Alternative to PatchMyPC - Home Updater? With installer caching?

[topbanana]

So, PMPC-HU has completely deleted its most important, most useful, defining feature... the caching of the installers, such that we can download once, install/update many, using a USB stick, network share, etc.  Saving heaps of data, time, money, carbon.

This feature completely separated PMPC from every other application that offered software installing & updating!!!
It's why it got well known, why it such a large userbase!!!

But now it's deleted this advantage from the rest of the field.
The reason to choose PMPC has almost disappeared.
Especially when you look at how unusable the new dumbed-down version is too... NO CATEGORIES for 500+ Apps!!!  Imagine if the Yellow Pages removed the categories! LOL FFS!

So if PMPC doesn't have the feature we want, need, now we're left with the task of finding an alternative, and to move to that.

Does anyone know of any free software that was equivalent to what PMPC-HU was?

[Justin (Patch My PC)]

Hey @topbanana, we've seen your repeated posts about the missing offline caching feature in Home Updater. We understand it's frustrating.

Our forum is focused on what Patch My PC currently offers and offering support for that, so if you're looking for alternatives that still provide caching, you'd likely get better input in broader IT communities. For new feature requests, you can request that on our UserVoice for Home Updater. We are already tracking your request for caching installers and having a portable version.

Thanks for the feedback and your past support. We wish you luck finding the right tool for your needs.

Edited for clarity on new feature request should go to our UserVoice

[topbanana]

Hey topbanana, we've seen your repeated posts about the missing offline caching feature in Home Updater. We understand it's frustrating. Our forum is focused on what Patch My PC currently offers, so if you're looking for alternatives that still provide caching, you'd likely get better input in broader IT communities. Thanks for the feedback and your past support. We wish you luck finding the right tool for your needs.

So you think i was the only user that used the caching feature?
PatchMyPC was famous for having this caching feature!
Users need the caching feature.  And it should be turned on by default.

By not having it, your new version is wasting our time, our data usage, our bandwidth, our money, wasting bandwidth on the internet, wasting bandwidth on the publisher's servers, and increasing the energy usage and carbon footprint.

Are you informing me that PatchMyPC - Home Updater will never get this functionality back?

[xenon2000]

Are we even allowed to post alternatives on this forum? If a moderator says it's ok, I have some suggestions while we wait for version 5 to add the simple lines of code to skip the file deletion step at the end of the install process.

[topbanana]

Are we even allowed to post alternatives on this forum? If a moderator says it's ok, I have some suggestions while we wait for version 5 to add the simple lines of code to skip the file deletion step at the end of the install process.

We haven't had any reassurance that they will give us back the one feature that led us to use their software in the first place...
So if they're not going to, then it should be correct that we can assist each other to find other pieces of software that does offer the feature, that is no longer supported by PMPC.  It would also be a good look if the employees of PMPC were to chime in and make suggestions...  So "Sorry guys, we can't offer this functionality any more, but you might try option a, option b, or option c, as they do off the feature".  This would earn a lot of respect.

I'd like to know what suggestions you have that we may consider.

[xenon2000]

I think it is more appropriate to talk about alternatives on Reddit or alternativeto dot net.

[Justin (Patch My PC)]

I think this is an easy add specifically don't delete the file, we will be planning some features in our next sprint soon, and I'd recommend upvoting this feature to get notified as we make progress on this request: https://ideas.patchmypc.com/ideas/PATCHMYPC-I-5133

Are we even allowed to post alternatives on this forum? If a moderator says it's ok, I have some suggestions while we wait for version 5 to add the simple lines of code to skip the file deletion step at the end of the install process.

[OldNavyGuy]

I'd like to know what suggestions you have that we may consider.

No one that works there will give you suggestions...it's unrealistic to expect.

I think they have received the message, so no further need to continue banging on them by posting the same complaint over and over.

The fact that there has been no movement on it for almost 4 months says what you need to know on where their priorities fall.

After several years of using PMPC, I personally have moved on.

I am no longer recommending it in its current state.

The tools I'm using now meet our requirements.

When (or if) they re-instate the version 4 functionality, I'll take another look.