Preferred installation package
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
My prefered tool for installation packages is Wix, it integrates easily into any automated build process. There is a commercial IDE called WiXAware if a design view to help build GUI of installer is needed. CET
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Given that the two top players in the Install-App field are as unpopular as they are, it's a million-dollar market out there for some smart individuals to come up with something that's simple to use and that will work out of the box :-)
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)Hi I have been using IS for over 5 years now and although I have to agree with other comments in regards to the quality of the product and their support (very poor), I would still recommend it, even though admittedly I have not tried Wise. The majority of the bugs and problems are within the IDE and usually have a workaround, not ideal I know. However IS is a very powerful product and I have yet to find a situation/configuration I could not create an installer for. It can be very frustrating at times to work with, but there is an excellent user base and forum full of very helpful people always willing to help out a fellow installer. If you are still set against IS there is an alternative called InstallAware that I believe was founded by ex-employees of IS when they where taken over by Macrovision. Hope that helps… Neil.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
Having been through this one myself I can strongly recommend InstallAware[^]. We bought 2 copies of InstallAware Studio after seeing it in action at a conference last year, and we haven't regretted it. It's fast, easy to use and flexible - with full scripting support and (in higher editions) the capability to import existing installers. I believe InstallAware was started by a group of disgruntled ex-Installshield developers about 10 years ago. That kinda says it all, I think! :laugh:
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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I switched to AdvancedInstaller (www.advancedinstaller.com) when Windows Vista out... They are dedicated on Windows Installer (MSI) installers... and it costs less then Wise and InstallShield... Serhiy Horobets
We looked into that one as well, but ended up plumping for InstallAware in the end. From what I can see, Advanced Installer is pretty good for its price point though. :)
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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One other that I remember, http://www.ethalone.com/products.php[^] I remember trying out Ghost Installer several years ago and thinking it was pretty cool. I don't know what it's like today.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Techno Silliness
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Having been through this one myself I can strongly recommend InstallAware[^]. We bought 2 copies of InstallAware Studio after seeing it in action at a conference last year, and we haven't regretted it. It's fast, easy to use and flexible - with full scripting support and (in higher editions) the capability to import existing installers. I believe InstallAware was started by a group of disgruntled ex-Installshield developers about 10 years ago. That kinda says it all, I think! :laugh:
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
I've no idea what must have happened to Wise. It's tragic really; it used to be so good. Having said that the only criticism really aimed at it is that it hogs system resources while installing. This may be awkward for very large installs but the real benefit of Wise is that it's not only extremely easy to use but that it's also extremely flexible. So flexible in fact that it doubles as the most simple to use system scripting tool I’ve ever used. Tom
Philosophy: The art of never getting beyond the concept of life.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
I have tried Installshield, from 5.5 Professional version to Installshield X version. I also tried some version of Wise. It is true that Installshield looks more professional and has a lot of features, some of which you may never have to use, but it is also true that it is full of bugs (from crashes of the application and UI freezing to incorrect saving of settings and so on). I would go for the .Net installer, maybe with some custom actions and dialogs. But to make sure you make the right decision, I also recommend you try out some free evaluation versions of these installers. This way you can see for yourself if the features you need are truly there and will make (or not) your life easier. I hope this helps,
Michael
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Given that the two top players in the Install-App field are as unpopular as they are, it's a million-dollar market out there for some smart individuals to come up with something that's simple to use and that will work out of the box :-)
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*) -
Having used both recently (though I didn't use any really advanced stuff in either), I'd say that Installshield is better than Wise. Wise was horribly slow and its UI is coded so bad then when some heavy operation is going on, the whole UI freezes and unless you have a multi-core CPUI, your machine is frozen during the entire build process. Not saying Installshield is all that better, because with each new version they add tons of features and the package gets heavier and heavier, but it's still the better choice of the two (my opinion).
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*) -
Never have, I've tried that free one before which was actually very good, I forget the name of it, we used it for a while until we outgrew it.
InnoSetup? That's what I use, and it's very good. The only thing I have found it lacking out of the box is internet update/download capabilities, but it has a full scripting language (Pascal), so you could make your own internet stuff if you need it. It has no nags, just a permanent entry in the executable's Comment field.
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Given that the two top players in the Install-App field are as unpopular as they are, it's a million-dollar market out there for some smart individuals to come up with something that's simple to use and that will work out of the box :-)
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)So far, we haven't found anything we need to do that cannot be done with the .net tools. However, the .net tools are underdocumented and at times frustrating. I have used Wise in the distant past and also a couple of lesser known installers. If I found something needed installing that would not install with the .net tools, I would consider writing a C++ program to get the job done before I would consider Wise or InstallShield.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
The Visual Studio installation project is the way to go. Installshield SUCKS. I cannot say just how much it sucks, but believe me, it SUCKS. Did I mention installshield SUCKS - anyone who has done any real work with installshield will tell you IT SUCKS. If someone doesn't think Installshield SUCKS, then they don't realize how screwed up their project really is. There is no comparison - just use the Visual Studio Installation project - Its really straightforward. If it cannot do what you need, then you're doing it wrong. Also, look to see what installers some of the open source projects are using - I've seen some really nice installers on various mainstream projects such as Python, MySQL, and many others.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
Before checking out any other installation packagers I'd have a look at Advanced Installer (www.advancedinstaller.com). Personally, I'd rather be programming and NOT wasting my time on learning install scripts and managing them... AI is a scriptless installer, yet it provides all the custom action functionality to add your own scripts if there is something you need to do that the installer doesn't handle, and you can code them in vbs and I believe js, or do what I did and create one c# project win forms exe to handle all of your custom actions and pass it command line parameters from the install package. After looking at NSIS, Microsoft's XML install nightmare, WISE, using Install Shield, I'd recommend AI hands down if for no other reason than ease of use and ROI in terms of the amount of TIME you actually need to spend to get a working install package. Check it out!
-Fred
Email:
fred[at]eastpointsystems.com -
We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
I have used Wise, IS and a much more. If your application needs a complex installation as I have needed in the past, then you should go with an installation package that is scriptable. I define a complex installation as one where you would need to install/register many components, you need to modify the registry based on values already there (more than pushing settings), install IIS and configure a virtual folder, install RPC Servers, configure COM/COM+/DCOM or even setup virtual users, etc. Recently I have used NSIS, which impresses me more and more the more I use it. http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page[^] Just my two cents worth. H L Lord
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
I have used Wise, InstallShield, VS deployment, Setup Factory and TDK from Clarion. By far the best package I have ever used is IntallAware. From my understanding it was started a few agos by some people that left InstallShield to do things right. It is a great product. HTH Jeremy Herron
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
Installshield is great, it allows customisation at every level. I've used it to automatically register DLL's and web service extensions in the past. The builtin VisualStudio package is v.poor, have had issues with DLL installs and version authentication everytime I've used it. Is useful for dev installs but wouldn't trust it with remote installs.
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
I've used Wise for 3+ years now and have been happy with Wise. The only real issues I've had with Wise have been related to issues that Wise (or any installer) appears to have interfacing with MS's Installer. Those issues were readily solved by a call to Wise support. Have you considered automating your install with WIX? The price is right.
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The Visual Studio installation project is the way to go. Installshield SUCKS. I cannot say just how much it sucks, but believe me, it SUCKS. Did I mention installshield SUCKS - anyone who has done any real work with installshield will tell you IT SUCKS. If someone doesn't think Installshield SUCKS, then they don't realize how screwed up their project really is. There is no comparison - just use the Visual Studio Installation project - Its really straightforward. If it cannot do what you need, then you're doing it wrong. Also, look to see what installers some of the open source projects are using - I've seen some really nice installers on various mainstream projects such as Python, MySQL, and many others.
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Josh Smith wrote:
I was afraid of getting that type of feedback
You wanted honest feedback. Right? You can also look at NSIS: http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page[^]
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We're looking to buy an installation package, and I was hoping that some folks might have suggestions/tips based on experience. The deployment target is Windows-only, for .NET a app. It seems that there are two very popular choices: InstallShield and Wise. Do you have a recommendation for one or the other? Is there an even better choice? Thanks for any help.
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
I've never used Wise or any other setup authoring package other then InstallShield. I started learning and using InstallShield back in 1999 using their native scripting language which is a lot like VB6 code. Since 2002 i've been using InstallShield Professional 7.0 and currently using 10.5 to author MSI setups; Vista will probably force me to upgrade to IS 12.0 soon... IS still has issues, bugs and a learning curve, but most of the complexity comes from the Microsoft's MSI complexity and not InstallShield directly. IS support people are very good and very responsive; However, If I was to start from scratch on a new product.. I would take a serious look at WiX. Microsoft's Open Source Windows Installer package based on XML and hosted on SourceForge http://wix.sourceforge.net/ WiX was developed initially by Microsoft employees before it was made open source, and has also been sweeping through Microsoft as their new standard MSI builder in addition to using the MSBuild tool. According to msft bloggers and channel9 videos; Microsoft uses WiX to author the setups for: 1) VS2005 2) Office 2003 (*not confirmed*) 3) Office 2007 .. and i'm sure a lot of other stuff. If you Don't need to support MSI setups; then InnoSetup is worth looking at!
________________________________ Heston T. Holtmann, B.Sc.Eng. Software Engineer