KC Softwares (authors of IDPhotostudio, VideoInspector, AudioGrail...) has just released a new freeware program called SUMo - Software Updates Monitor. SUMo notifies users when updates are available for their favorite software. SUMo relies on social networking : if a significant amount of SUMo users have a newer version than yours of any software you use, SUMo proposes the download link for this update.
By using SUMo you can update before you really need to use your favorite software (unlike when using proprietary auto-update features).