Despite the increasingly fast installation times of newer Windows operating systems, users always resent the thought of spending an entire afternoon switching between operating systems. Their biggest headache is when they have to install the new environment and get all its applications running.
Many solutions exist on the market and some of them are quite adept at automatically creating the new environment, and completing applications and system settings.
Today we will present you with a free software, PickMeApp, which is an alternative solution that focuses only on listing existing installed programs, leaving all the customization settings of the new OS to the user.
PickMeApp runs in a user-friendly interface with easy-to-read tabs, but keep in mind that the program also offers you third-party software during installation. From what we've seen, it promotes a toolbar to your browser (which can change your browser's homepage and default search engine) as well as a registry cleaner.
Generally in free programs, if you get past the advertising screens during installation you're done, but in the case of PickMeApp, the promotion extends to normal use of the software.
Handling all of PickMeApp shouldn't be a problem for an average user. PickMeApp works by collecting all the details of your installed apps into a profile.
It shows you on a tab its own collection of programs that have already been tested and are compatible for the transition to the new different operating system.
Judging by the scroll bar it has, its list is quite large, but it is still far from the requirements of the average user.
It includes basic programs, mostly free, such as Adobe Reader, 7-Zip, KeePass, FileZilla, GIMP, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Avast! free Antivirus, Thunderbird email client, web browsers, etc. However, we also found some non-free ones on the list, such as WinRAR.
One of the best things about it is that you can automatically install in to this collection . PickMeApp will do all the hard work. On the other hand, it has the disadvantage that not all of the apps in its list are in their latest releases.
During our testing, the program was unable to secure all the programs on our PC. You can view the full list of compatible programs before using it.
After recording the software on the old operating system, you can save the details in a special format that can be opened by PickMeApp on the new operating system. Alternatively, everything can be packaged into a self-extracting file that can then be opened without the help of the program.
This way, the list of all the programs that will be installed is available at the beginning of the process in the new operating system. One disadvantage is that you cannot exclude any application from the list in case you change your mind.
If you have decided to use PickMeApp to make the transition to a new operating system, you should keep in mind that software compatibility with the new operating system is a prerequisite.
The same result is achieved when moving data from a newer operating system to a previous version (downgrade e.g. Windows 8 to Windows XP) or between 32-bit and 64-bit platforms.
The configuration options are insignificant, they won't bother you much, unless you go to the specialized advanced menu, where there is the option to download the software settings and install it with your personal settings.
The advanced menu is disabled by default, but our recommendation is to enable these two options because it can save you a lot of time after completing the migration from one OS to another.
Also important is the ability to capture programs you are already running and verify their integrity after installation. Unfortunately, PickMeApp will not give you any warning when it tries to install programs that are not compatible with the new environment and you will need to do some preliminary work on this issue before proceeding with the program's operation.
This means that you will need to spend some time gathering details about the components that are not working in the new operating system, a separate task that you would have done anyway if you were performing a manual installation and configuration of these programs.
The entire progress of the job is visible at the bottom of the main screen with the date and time for each step of the process. In addition, it provides you with a history of all activities so you can see which programs have been processed.
As a tool, we found it particularly useful for professional computer technicians, who at some point will be called upon to change the operating system on a stack of computers in a company or organization, and in the shortest possible time.
Pros:
The application does not require installation and can also be used as a portable. It is easy to use and also collects and transfers the current settings of its program. You can save the exported profiles for as long as you want and you can save it as a self-extracting file that can be opened without PickMeApp.
The cons:
It has a persistence with promoting third-party software, we were prompted with adware installation prompts even when we launched the first image of the program. The list of supported applications is mostly limited to freebies, and a large portion of the commercial software we had on our test system was not included.
In General:
It's not really the most reliable application for computers that come with highly specialized programs, but it can provide a useful helping hand for the beginner and even the average user. With up-to-date information about OS compatibility as well as the ability to feed it with this information, it can become a reliable and popular tool, especially for less advanced users.
Watch a video demonstration of how the program works:
Download PickMeApp in exe format from here
Download PickMeApp in Zip format from here (registration required)
[review]
