There’s a famous line in Tennessee Williams well-known play, A Streetcar Named Desire. It comes from trashy, tragic Blanche DuBois. It reads “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” I hope I’m not over-reaching in finding a connection between Blanche and Microsoft’s built-in package manager Winget. Why do I say that Winget suffers Blanche DuBois effect? Because third-party developers must provide package definitions so Winget can handle their updates. Some do, some don’t is my experience on this front.

Overcoming Winget Suffers Blanche DuBois Effect

I turn to other tools to help me catch what happens when the “Blanche DuBois Effect” fails — namely, when a developer or owner does not supply Winget with the necessary package definitions. You can see what I mean by this in the figure below. (Click on it to expand to full-sized view to read what it says for yourself.)

Note that Winget sees 4 items in need of update; SUMo sees 7 or 8.

For the record, Winget sees about half of what KC Software’s Software Update Monitor (aka SUMo) does, to wit:

For accuracy, Winget sees one thing that SUMo does not — namely, Visual Studio Enterprise 2022 (abbreviated as VSEnt22 above). OTOH, SUMo sees 5 (or 6) things that Winget does not — specifically, Firefox, CPU-Z (a false positive, in fact), MS Edge, Snagit, and WizTree (in both 64- and 32-bit versions). That’s why I use other application update tools to help me keep up on the ten-plus PCs in residence here at Chez Tittel.

Winget Supplements of Choice Are…

My tools of choice to cover what Winget misses are:

1. Software Update Monitor (aka SUMo) from KC Softwares
2. PatchMyPC from PatchMyPC.com

Why two? Because PatchMyPC sees fewer things than SUMo does. But what the freeware version of PatchMyPC sees, it also updates automatically and easily. The free version of SUMo sees more, but only the paid version tries to update those things for you (and its track record is far enough from stellar on performing updates that I’m not sure it’s worth the US$25-30 you’ll be asked to pay for it).

I’ve learned to use SUMo solely for detection, then I let PatchMyPC handle for me what it can. I do the rest myself manually.

Frankly, though, I think MS should put some of its much-vaunted AI capability to work so that Winget can generate packages for third-party applications on its own with no need to, as Blanch DuBois once did, rely on the kindness of strangers.

OK, then. The family is back from our later-than-usual winter vacation. On Saturday we returned from San Diego. This morning, son Gregory hopped another silver bird to return to school in Boston. So now, I’m catching up my modest PC fleet as 2023 gets underway for real here at Chez Tittel. As usual, there are numerous interesting items to report.

Once 2023 Gets Underway for Real, Then What?

First things first: I’m checking and updating all the Windows PCs around here. Here’s what things are looking like by some numbers — namely Winget updates and SUMo items:

PC Name         Winget     SUMo Items
i7Skylake          4           6
Surface (Pro 3)    1           3
X380Test           6           3
X380              12           9
P16 (Mobile WS)    1           4
X12 Hybrid Tablet  3           3
X1 Extreme         2           9
Yoga 7i            5           9
D7080 (wife PC)    1           4
AMD5800X           6           8

Of course, the time these various systems spent untended before the break affects the number of updates they need. It’s no exaggeration to observe that those with more updates in both columns (Winget and SUMo) had been idle longer than those with fewer (especially X380 and the AMD box).

Total time required to get everything caught up (except for the Lenovo P360 Ultra, which is still in the closet upstairs) was just under 3 hours. I learned a few interesting things along the way, too.

Update Lessons Learned

Zoom won’t auto-upgrade to the latest version in one jump. I had to upgrade several systems twice, to work through the sequence of updates since they were last accessed. Sigh.

I did finally find the new versions of Asrock App Shop, RGB Sync, and Restart to UEFI. I haven’t tried them on my Z170 mobo yet, but am curious to see if old and new are still close enough to work. And indeed, the new B550 targeted software still works on the old Z170 motherboard. Go figure…

For some odd reason, SUMo wants users to upgrade to beta versions of Firefox and SpaceDesk. I’m NOT going there, because I want my production PCs to run production software. If you make use of this otherwise excellent tool, be sure to check the provenance of recommended updates (like those two) before blindly following along.

2023, here I come. Stay tuned…

Here’s an interesting tidbit. I checked for upgrades this morning on my production PC. Winget informed me “1 package has a version number that cannot be determined.” It recommends using the “–include-unknown” parameter. And presto! Winget Upgrade include unknown gets illustrated nicely in forthcoming results. See the lead-in graphic…

When Winget Upgrade Include Unknown Gets Ilustrated…

An abstract explanation that Winget may not recognize an update’s version is one thing. But the example in the preceding graphic is clear and unmistakable. First, Winget finds no installable packages. It recommends using –include-known. Once used, an upgrade is found — and installed — without difficulty. How clear is that?

I’ve been using Winget daily on most of my PCs for more than six months now. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about how (and when) it works best. Winget is now essential for my maintenance regimen. The foregoing illustration explains nicely why using –include-unknown is customary. It’s a peach!

SUMo sees things that need updates (applications mostly, but also some apps) that Winget does not.

Where Winget Comes Up Short

Please examine the preceding screencap. It shows 4 updates and upgrades that Winget misses. That same shot also shows why I still use KC Softwares’ Software Update Monitor (SUMo, depicted).

Indeed I also use PatchMyPC updater as well. That’s mostly because while it doesn’t catch everything that SUMo does, what it does catch it also updates automatically. SUMo only does that if you use the for-a-fee version (and even then, it doesn’t always do it automatically, either). Sigh.

In addition to the items shown, other things occasionally pop up that Winget misses. Other browsers (e.g. Chrome) may appear, as do some apps/applications, including Kindle, Nitro Pro, and more. I’ve learned how to handle all of them by now — or not, as is sometimes a good idea. For example: I’ve never been able to find the version of ASRock APP Shop (2.0.0.3) that SUMo claims is current. There are a few other such “false positives” but nothing too major. Please read my December 28 item “Windows 10 OCD Update Stymied” for further ruminations on this topic.

‘Nuff said, for now!