VersionTracker was a

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikip ...

that tracked

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

releases and versioning. It began as a

Mac OS software The following is a list of Macintosh Software – notable computer applications for current macOS operating systems. Video For software designed for the classic Mac OS, see List of old Macintosh software. Anti-malware software The software ...

tracker, eventually expanding into

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

, iPhone, Microsoft Windows and

Palm OS Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...

software. VersionTracker did not host the majority of the software listed - it merely linked to them. Browsing and searching the database was free. Paid users had access to a streamlined download process and the VersionTracker Pro software application. VersionTracker Pro tracked software versions on the user's computer and compared those versions to VersionTracker's database.

History

VersionTracker was created by Kurt Christensen, a Sacramento, CA native in 1995. It started as an Apple-only site but eventually expanded to include software related to the Microsoft Windows and

Palm Pilot The PalmPilot Personal and PalmPilot Professional are the second generation of Palm PDA devices produced by Palm Inc (then a subsidiary of U.S. Robotics, later 3Com). These devices were launched on March 10, 1997. Accessories and pricing Pa ...

platforms. Upon the advent of

, the Macintosh section was split into

Classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. Th ...

and a section devoted to software for the new operating system. As releases of software for the older Mac OS dried up, its section was discontinued. In August 2007, VersionTracker and sister sites MacFixIt and iPhone Atlas became CNET sites. CNET's Download.com promotes VersionTracker heavily on its website, through ads and following file downloads, although without specifically referencing its ownership of CNET. On September 7, 2010, VersionTracker became fully integrated into the CNET site structure and has merged with

Download.com CNET Download (originally Download.com) is an Internet download directory website launched in 1996 as a part of CNET. Initially it resided on the domain ''download.com'', and then ''download.com.com'' for a while, and is now ''download.cnet.com' ...

. The software update tracking features are all still available, but the old layout is no longer used. Daily updates for programs are listed, and users can download CNET's TechTracker utility for maintaining their installed software through the Download.com site. The VersionTracker URL is no longer active. The old VersionTracker Pro utility (TechTracker's predecessor) has been known to have had the lowest rating of 1 star for a long time to this day, even after being heavily promoted by CNET. The new version of the software has been heavily overhauled and integrates with the CNET account and website. There are currently no equivalent star ratings for the new version of the software. The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) has various posts from former VersionTracker users who seem to be migrating to MacUpdate rather than using CNET, which no longer includes the wealth of information formerly available at VersionTracker after 15 years of user reviews. As always-on

broadband internet In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

connections became the norm, developers began incorporating update-checking features directly into their applications, reducing the audience for sites like VersionTracker.

App store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

s like the

Mac App Store The App Store (also known as the Mac App Store) is a digital distribution platform for macOS apps, often referred to as Mac apps, created and maintained by Apple Inc. The platform was announced on October 20, 2010, at Apple's "Back to the Mac" ...

, in which applications can be searched, purchased, and kept up to date, further reduced the audience for VersionTracker, and download sites in general.

References

{{ViacomCBS Defunct CBS Interactive websites Internet properties established in 1995 Macintosh websites