We are providing Java desktop software for Windows, OS X and Linux. Currently, when an update is available, our customers have to download the new software bundle from our website and install it manually. This means on Windows, they have to launch a setup, on OS X and Linux to extract a tar.gz file. It usually is no big deal, but we want to stream-line this process nonetheless.
Before we start to reinvent the wheel, I want to know whether there already are solutions available which could perform the right steps platform-specifically. Something like Java Web Start but with much more control over it and no need to have it installed on the system. I know that OSGi platforms like Apache Felix can do that, but I rate them as overkill.
Apart from the mentioned Java Web Start technology, Eclipse RCP (SWT-based RCP) and the NetBeans Platform (Swing-based RCP) provide update managers.