Ninite.com (YC W08) releases new product and stats - 10 million apps installed | Hacker News Reader

Ninite.com (YC W08) releases new product and stats - 10 million apps installed

blog.ninite.com

29 pointsswies12 comments

This is just one person's anecdotal experience, but: when I first saw ninite, I thought "yeah I'll definitely use that next time I reinstall". Then I promptly forgot about it.

I've probably reinstalled 8-9 times since then.

I think part of the problem is the name, which is hard to remember - have you experimented with more literal domain names?

I must say I had the same thing... but then I had problems with an installer not working and remembered. The experience was absolutely amazing. I recently re-installed a friend's machine... it took me about 15 minutes of work (and over an hour for the machine).

They apparently picked the name by automatically searching for available short domains: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1369208

I said the same in the comments on that story--I don't think their name is very good. I constantly forget it too, and waste a few minutes Googling for it every time I need to use it (which is always a few months apart, and my experience with Ninite is so short it never makes an impression on me).

This may or may not be useful advice depending on the direction of the software... but this technology could make for the basis of great enterprise software. Everyone I've ever met who manages a Microsoft SMS / System Config Manager in an enterprise always seems to hate it. There's definitely a need for a simple way to manage and deploy software in an enterprise setting.

i understand the utility of their application, but I see this as worse than a seasonal type application. I mean how often do we need to reinstall a lot of software at one time. Also I saw spotify on the list.. might cause some confusion for US users.

Lately we're trying to promote Ninite more for single app downloads too. Even for a single app Ninite saves you from:

- navigating confusing download sites (sourceforge stands out as an example)

- waiting/forgetting about a download before running an installer (all Ninite installers are ~200k, they get everything else once running)

- clicking "Next" through pointless multi-step installers

- mistakenly installing a toolbar in your browser

As for Spotify, we got a lot of requests for it because we have many non-US users. While Ninite installs apps in your PCs language we haven't internationalized the website or its selections for different markets yet.

thanks for clearing that up. I wish I could try but no windows machines. I think type of site would actually be good for like non computer savy, I think a simple redesign could convey this message better.

Can you include Total Commander, please?

Who are your users? Doesn't your strange name make it hard for people to find or recommend you? How about something more boring but direct like AppInstaller or MisterApp (hello, patio11!)?

If they make it as ubiquitous as apt-get on Linux/port on the mac, I think people would use it almost on a daily basis. There are lots of good reasons for apps to be published on a distribution network like apt-get or potentially ninite in the future...

This is the first time I've seen Ninite, and indeed it seems truly handy for those on Windows.

(of course on Debian/Ubuntu one can use: dpkg --get-selections | grep -v deinstall > prevpackages.may10 sudo dpkg --set-selections < prevpackages.may10 )

How do I remember the site name next time I am reinstalling Windows at my mother in laws?..

Ninite - what mnemonic device shall I use to refresh my old grey cells?

It's Windows only? I'd be nice if you detected my Mac, and instead of offering to download an exe it'd just say "Your platform is not supported".

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