Npacked software install manager is like Synaptic for Windows

One thing I've always preferred about Linux over Windows is the fact that just about every big-name distro includes a slick, easy-to-use package manager that makes installing and updating software a simple procedure. If you're using Windows, you need to know where to go to download apps -- in Linux, you just need to fire up your package manager and browse or search.

We've looked at a few Windows apps before which try to bring package management to Windows, but they all pale in comparison to Npacked. Install Npacked, browse for apps, and click your choices to install them -- there's also a built-in search tool which finds apps nearly instantly. Npacked downloads your programs and installs them in the background without requiring you to click a single next button. Better still, any apps you install via Npacked can be updated just as easily.

So what apps does Npacked support? The short version is "just about every must-have free Windows app we've ever blogged about." Apps include 7-Zip, Dropbox, VLC, uTorrent, Handbrake, CCleaner, OpenOffice, Greenshot, Everything, and even iTunes. Antivirus options are a bit lagging at the moment, with only AVG and ClamWin offered.

We'd like to see a few things added besides more security software. For starters, multiple selections would be very handy, and it would be helpful if some descriptive text about the apps or a screenshot was displayed. We'd also like to be able to export a list of installed programs, or some kind of cloud integration -- to make reinstallation on a new system a snap. Even without these features, Npacked is one of the slickest ways we've seen to find and installed new apps on Windows.

Tags: apps, discovery, install, installation, manage, manager, npacked, package management, package manager, PackageManagement, PackageManager, setup, synpatic, update, updater, windows