If you're doing a clean installation of Windows, installing your favorite apps again is time consuming and annoying. Ninite will install your favorite applications in one fell swoop while you walk away and do something more enjoyable.

Ninite is a cool service created by two programmers in San Francisco who believe that installing software shouldn't require work. It's simple to use and has a large selection of popular freeware and open source applications. Just pick the apps you want to install, download the all-in-one Ninite installer, then walk away and do something fun while it does all the work for you. The service installs the software with default settings and says "no" to any extra crapware (like browser toolbars) the installers might try to sneak in. Ninite isn't even installed on your system, you just use a standalone executable to begin the installation process.

Using Ninite

Go to the Ninite site and pick the software apps you want to install.

After you made your choices, click on the Get Your Ninite button at the bottom of the list.

 

Download the Ninite installer file.

Then double click to launch it.

Now walk away and go go to the coffee shop, have a beer, play some Xbox or whatever you want to do that is more fun than installing a bunch of programs. A progress screen is displayed while it downloads and installs your selected programs.

When you get back you will see the finished screen.

You'll see the icons of the programs you installed on the desktop and in the start menu. The default install paths and settings are automatically chosen for you with no crapware at all. Now you can enjoy using your favorite apps with little effort on your part. It couldn't be easier, it's so easy that even Grandma can pull it off.

Ninite even offers an update checker program for $10 a year that periodically checks for updates to all the programs Ninite supports, so you don't have to manually update everything yourself.