If you have ever had to upgrade an entire office full of software, you know what a pain it can be. Some offices don't upgrade as often as possible because of the trouble involved in upgrading each computer relatively often. A new utility may help solve some of these problems. Advantage Software, Inc.'s PatchMaker will compare old and new versions of the a program and will generate code that it will later install into other old versions of the application. So a computing manager could generate a patch on his or her computer, then distribute the patch program to all the users. When run, the patch program installs code reflecting the differences into the user's original application, thus transforming it into the new version with much less work than is usual. PatchMaker can even modify the icon of the original application to reflect the fact that it has been upgraded.

The users must have copies of the older versions of the program for the patch to work of course, which allows software companies to easily distribute patches on electronic information services without worrying about software piracy. Patches are also efficient to transfer electronically because they are usually only 10% to 20% the size of the original application.

The details? PatchMaker will retail for $99 Canadian and $79 US but it is currently only available from Advantage Software via mail-order, telephone, or electronic mail. No distribution license is required to distribute patches created with PatchMaker.

Advantage Software, Inc.
Attn.: Greg Hemstreet
67 Lakeshore Rd. East,
Mississauga, Ontario, M5G 1C9
416/891-2901
AppleLink: CDA0188

Information from:
News Notebook 1.07