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InstallAware Developement [modified]

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  • A Anna Jayne Metcalfe

    Maybe, but I have to say it's not something we'd consider unless it becomes urgent (too much risk) - though we will keep one eye out for now. We already have enough experience of InstallShield and Wise to stay well clear, and as we need MSI InnoSetup rules itself out. Advanced Installer is actually the one I was considering before we settled on InstallAware, but I don't know whether it would meet our needs now ....and unless it can directly import InstallAware dialogs and scripts we would have a heck of a time porting to it. Damn. That's annoying.

    Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | 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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    Mustafa Ismail Mustafa
    wrote on last edited by
    #30

    Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:

    MSI InnoSetup rules itself out.

    That is the one bad thing that annoys me about InnoSetup.

    If the post was helpful, please vote!


    Why won't the worm just leave me be?

    A 1 Reply Last reply
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    • A Anna Jayne Metcalfe

      We use InstallAware as a direct result of meeting Sinan at ESWC 2006. Looking at the exchange in question (assuming it is legit; there is some indication that these two companies have "history" from what I can see) it's definitely worrying. We have a lot of investment in InstallAware and if their customer service has indeed deteriorated to that level it is of direct concern to me. Even without the expletives, the following comment would be enough to make me cringe: "Unfortunately, due to high rates of software piracy in your region, we are unable to provide any support or any other form of pre-sale services to your company. If you are a legitimate business, you may purchase an InstallAware product and we'll take it from there." If we had that sort of approach to support we'd never have had any sales in Russia or Eastern Europe - and certainly wouldn't have gathered as much detailed feedback about our products as we have. Worrying.

      Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | 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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      meraydin
      wrote on last edited by
      #31

      Anna, every bit is true about that conversation. I've just blanked out my email address.

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      • M meraydin

        Anna, every bit is true about that conversation. I've just blanked out my email address.

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        Anna Jayne Metcalfe
        wrote on last edited by
        #32

        From what I've seen elseware now that I've started digging, I don't doubt it. I always thought that Candice was a touch annoying, but thought better of Sinan until now. Their loss really...I've been recommending InstallAware to customers and clients for 3 years now, but I certainly won't now unless they sort out their attitude towards customers.

        Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • M Mustafa Ismail Mustafa

          Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:

          MSI InnoSetup rules itself out.

          That is the one bad thing that annoys me about InnoSetup.

          If the post was helpful, please vote!


          Why won't the worm just leave me be?

          A Offline
          A Offline
          Anna Jayne Metcalfe
          wrote on last edited by
          #33

          Same here. Unfortunately some of our customers need MSI, so we were never able to consider InnoSetup.

          Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"

          1 Reply Last reply
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          • A Anna Jayne Metcalfe

            We use InstallAware as a direct result of meeting Sinan at ESWC 2006. Looking at the exchange in question (assuming it is legit; there is some indication that these two companies have "history" from what I can see) it's definitely worrying. We have a lot of investment in InstallAware and if their customer service has indeed deteriorated to that level it is of direct concern to me. Even without the expletives, the following comment would be enough to make me cringe: "Unfortunately, due to high rates of software piracy in your region, we are unable to provide any support or any other form of pre-sale services to your company. If you are a legitimate business, you may purchase an InstallAware product and we'll take it from there." If we had that sort of approach to support we'd never have had any sales in Russia or Eastern Europe - and certainly wouldn't have gathered as much detailed feedback about our products as we have. Worrying.

            Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | 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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            Mike Diack
            wrote on last edited by
            #34

            As a user of Anna's product (Visual Lint), I've been pleased with what I've seen of Installaware - indeed she and I chatted a year or two back about the poor quality of installers and she recommended it to me. Our company bought Installshield 11 in 2005 when it was bleeding edge (now of course, it's almost unsupported!), having run for years on Installshield 7 before that. We use it for distributing our product (as a .exe wrapped msi file). I have to say, having used it for a while, I quite like Installshield but for at least a year or two it was a pain. It's still massively overpriced for what it is though - and the manufacturers (who have changed twice since 2005, going to Adobe then to Acresso), offer very poor value - the product is expensive, has had several bugs that have been round for years and many versions and never fixed, plus they seem to produce new versions at a cynically frequent rate (probably more than once a year), with little or no (cheap) upgrade path. While the knowledge base stuff is good, the wizards etc are hard work unless you've been on a course on it - I remember finding patch creation a nightmare until I went on a course for it. I only hope other products are simpler/better/cheaper!

            1 Reply Last reply
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            • B Brady Kelly

              This morning, as champion of the innocent, brave, caffeine fuelled warrior for fellow developers, I rattled off an email to Michael Nesmith of InstallAware, and received the following response: Thank you for your concern Brady, but we have a lot more history with these crooks than, of course, what their limited copy-paste shows. I would encourage you to evaluate InstallAware on your own terms and sample our services if you are truly interested in the product. Otherwise, I hope you have enjoyed the freak show. Unfortunately, these people have stolen our and our partner company IP's multiple times, and we will not dignify them with any kind of public response. Thanks... Michael Nesmith Technical Support Representative InstallAware Software Corporation 336 Guerrero Street San Francisco CA 94103-3332 415 839 5017 -----Original Message----- From: Brady Kelly [mailto:xxx] Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 11:31 AM To: michaeln@installaware.com Subject: Candice Jones I hope you realise just how many sales this [1] has truly cost you. I have never come across such disgusting behaviour in thirteen years of developing or buying software. [1] http://www.codeproject.com/Lounge.aspx?fid=1159&df=10000&mpp=25&noise=3&sort =Position&view=Quick&fr=26&select=2994975#xx2994975xx


              Last modified: 3hrs 46mins after originally posted --

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              originSH
              wrote on last edited by
              #35

              Lo all :) after reading these appalling emails I went and did a bit of research ... seems theres lots of negative stuff around including about them stealing others website design and content! Bad Customer Service http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2008/5/13/My-apology-to-InstallAware-Software-Corporation http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2006/12/11/Response-to-my-WiXAware-Introduction http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2008/09/fact-check-installaware-first-and-only.html http://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/View.aspx?fid=1159&msg=2994975 http://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/View.aspx?fid=1159&msg=2995179 http://bytes.com/groups/net/166647-mimarsinan-installaware-read-before-you-buy http://vistadb.net/blog/news/bad-customer-support/ http://lextm.blogspot.com/2007/09/product-review-installshield-2008.html Questionable Ethics http://msmvps.com/blogs/installsite/archive/2006/12/11/412661.aspx http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2006/12/alls-fair-in-marketing.html

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              • O originSH

                Lo all :) after reading these appalling emails I went and did a bit of research ... seems theres lots of negative stuff around including about them stealing others website design and content! Bad Customer Service http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2008/5/13/My-apology-to-InstallAware-Software-Corporation http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2006/12/11/Response-to-my-WiXAware-Introduction http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2008/09/fact-check-installaware-first-and-only.html http://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/View.aspx?fid=1159&msg=2994975 http://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/View.aspx?fid=1159&msg=2995179 http://bytes.com/groups/net/166647-mimarsinan-installaware-read-before-you-buy http://vistadb.net/blog/news/bad-customer-support/ http://lextm.blogspot.com/2007/09/product-review-installshield-2008.html Questionable Ethics http://msmvps.com/blogs/installsite/archive/2006/12/11/412661.aspx http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2006/12/alls-fair-in-marketing.html

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                Nish Nishant
                wrote on last edited by
                #36

                [Clickable links for the above post] http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2008/5/13/My-apology-to-InstallAware-Software-Corporation[^] http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2006/12/11/Response-to-my-WiXAware-Introduction[^] http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2008/09/fact-check-installaware-first-and-only.html[^] http://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/View.aspx?fid=1159&msg=2994975[^] http://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/View.aspx?fid=1159&msg=2995179[^] http://bytes.com/groups/net/166647-mimarsinan-installaware-read-before-you-buy[^] http://vistadb.net/blog/news/bad-customer-support/[^] http://lextm.blogspot.com/2007/09/product-review-installshield-2008.html[^] http://msmvps.com/blogs/insta

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                • N Nish Nishant

                  [Clickable links for the above post] http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2008/5/13/My-apology-to-InstallAware-Software-Corporation[^] http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2006/12/11/Response-to-my-WiXAware-Introduction[^] http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2008/09/fact-check-installaware-first-and-only.html[^] http://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/View.aspx?fid=1159&msg=2994975[^] http://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/View.aspx?fid=1159&msg=2995179[^] http://bytes.com/groups/net/166647-mimarsinan-installaware-read-before-you-buy[^] http://vistadb.net/blog/news/bad-customer-support/[^] http://lextm.blogspot.com/2007/09/product-review-installshield-2008.html[^] http://msmvps.com/blogs/insta

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                  originSH
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #37

                  Doh! forgot about that XD lol guess it serves me right for not posting for a few months ;) Thanks dude :)

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                  • O originSH

                    Doh! forgot about that XD lol guess it serves me right for not posting for a few months ;) Thanks dude :)

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                    Nish Nishant
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #38

                    originSH wrote:

                    Thanks dude

                    You are welcome. And the 5-vote was mine - for all your research :-)

                    Regards, Nish


                    Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                    My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

                    O 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • N Nish Nishant

                      originSH wrote:

                      Thanks dude

                      You are welcome. And the 5-vote was mine - for all your research :-)

                      Regards, Nish


                      Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                      My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

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                      originSH
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #39

                      It was a bit of a train wreck ... I'm not sure I've seen customer service like that before where there hasn't been an apology and/or a firing. It's amazing the number of "me too" comments on a lot of the blogs ... stretching back years!

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                      • O originSH

                        It was a bit of a train wreck ... I'm not sure I've seen customer service like that before where there hasn't been an apology and/or a firing. It's amazing the number of "me too" comments on a lot of the blogs ... stretching back years!

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                        Nish Nishant
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #40

                        originSH wrote:

                        It was a bit of a train wreck ... I'm not sure I've seen customer service like that before where there hasn't been an apology and/or a firing. It's amazing the number of "me too" comments on a lot of the blogs ... stretching back years!

                        Yeah. I was quite surprised too. But they've stayed in business for so long. Maybe some people like abusive tech support :)

                        Regards, Nish


                        Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                        My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

                        M 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • N Nish Nishant

                          peterchen wrote:

                          than this post will get back.

                          I don't think Brady meant it to do that anyway. :)

                          Regards, Nish


                          Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                          My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

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                          P Offline
                          peterchen
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #41

                          I don't think so either, and, as said, I don't blame him. It's just normal that a rant about ridiculous behavior gets more attention and is remembered more than that correction.

                          Don't attribute to stupidity what can be equally well explained by buerocracy.
                          My latest article | Linkify!| FoldWithUs! | sighist

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                          0
                          • P peterchen

                            I don't think so either, and, as said, I don't blame him. It's just normal that a rant about ridiculous behavior gets more attention and is remembered more than that correction.

                            Don't attribute to stupidity what can be equally well explained by buerocracy.
                            My latest article | Linkify!| FoldWithUs! | sighist

                            N Offline
                            N Offline
                            Nish Nishant
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #42

                            peterchen wrote:

                            and is remembered more than that correction.

                            There was no correction at all. The guy who replied seems to be trying to generalize everyone from Turkey as being software thieves.

                            Regards, Nish


                            Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                            My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • N Nish Nishant

                              originSH wrote:

                              It was a bit of a train wreck ... I'm not sure I've seen customer service like that before where there hasn't been an apology and/or a firing. It's amazing the number of "me too" comments on a lot of the blogs ... stretching back years!

                              Yeah. I was quite surprised too. But they've stayed in business for so long. Maybe some people like abusive tech support :)

                              Regards, Nish


                              Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                              My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

                              M Offline
                              M Offline
                              MidwestLimey
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #43

                              Nishant Sivakumar wrote:

                              Maybe some people like abusive tech support

                              The Klingon guide to tech support?

                              10110011001111101010101000001000001101001010001010100000100000101000001000111100010110001011001011

                              N A 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • M MidwestLimey

                                Nishant Sivakumar wrote:

                                Maybe some people like abusive tech support

                                The Klingon guide to tech support?

                                10110011001111101010101000001000001101001010001010100000100000101000001000111100010110001011001011

                                N Offline
                                N Offline
                                Nish Nishant
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #44

                                MidwestLimey wrote:

                                The Klingon guide to tech support?

                                No, more like someone's feeling too happy (perhaps a drug high or something). So he/she calls Installaware support and claims to be from Turkey. :-)

                                Regards, Nish


                                Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                                My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • B Brady Kelly

                                  This morning, as champion of the innocent, brave, caffeine fuelled warrior for fellow developers, I rattled off an email to Michael Nesmith of InstallAware, and received the following response: Thank you for your concern Brady, but we have a lot more history with these crooks than, of course, what their limited copy-paste shows. I would encourage you to evaluate InstallAware on your own terms and sample our services if you are truly interested in the product. Otherwise, I hope you have enjoyed the freak show. Unfortunately, these people have stolen our and our partner company IP's multiple times, and we will not dignify them with any kind of public response. Thanks... Michael Nesmith Technical Support Representative InstallAware Software Corporation 336 Guerrero Street San Francisco CA 94103-3332 415 839 5017 -----Original Message----- From: Brady Kelly [mailto:xxx] Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 11:31 AM To: michaeln@installaware.com Subject: Candice Jones I hope you realise just how many sales this [1] has truly cost you. I have never come across such disgusting behaviour in thirteen years of developing or buying software. [1] http://www.codeproject.com/Lounge.aspx?fid=1159&df=10000&mpp=25&noise=3&sort =Position&view=Quick&fr=26&select=2994975#xx2994975xx


                                  Last modified: 3hrs 46mins after originally posted --

                                  A Offline
                                  A Offline
                                  Ashley van Gerven
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #45

                                  Brady Kelly wrote:

                                  sample our services

                                  You'd have to be fairly brave and thick-skinned to enter into any kind of conversation with candice after seeing that display of her charming personality. Her words should be endlessly quoted as *THE WORST* real life example of customer care SCARE!

                                  "For fifty bucks I'd put my face in their soup and blow." - George Costanza

                                  CP article: SmartPager - a Flickr-style pager control with go-to-page popup layer.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • M MidwestLimey

                                    Nishant Sivakumar wrote:

                                    Maybe some people like abusive tech support

                                    The Klingon guide to tech support?

                                    10110011001111101010101000001000001101001010001010100000100000101000001000111100010110001011001011

                                    A Offline
                                    A Offline
                                    Ashley van Gerven
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #46

                                    Yeah... the "Customer Scare" chapter :)

                                    "For fifty bucks I'd put my face in their soup and blow." - George Costanza

                                    CP article: SmartPager - a Flickr-style pager control with go-to-page popup layer.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • H Hans Dietrich

                                      Everything Nesmith says might be true (I really don't know), but they should never send those kinds of emails. Now they're going to be endlessly quoted, even if the emails are completely out of context. They could have said, "No, we won't do business with you". They achieved nothing by sending such nastygrams, and the emails will haunt them for years. Very poor judgment.

                                      Best wishes, Hans


                                      [CodeProject Forum Guidelines] [How To Ask A Question] [My Articles]

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                                      A Offline
                                      Ashley van Gerven
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #47

                                      According to Nesmith, the evaluation is for installaware's benefit. You see, *IF* you can tolerate unfounded accusations and rude support during presales, ONLY THEN are they happy to have you as a customer. It means you won't complain about the unhelpful support insults you get later on ;)

                                      "For fifty bucks I'd put my face in their soup and blow." - George Costanza

                                      CP article: SmartPager - a Flickr-style pager control with go-to-page popup layer.

                                      H 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • A Ashley van Gerven

                                        According to Nesmith, the evaluation is for installaware's benefit. You see, *IF* you can tolerate unfounded accusations and rude support during presales, ONLY THEN are they happy to have you as a customer. It means you won't complain about the unhelpful support insults you get later on ;)

                                        "For fifty bucks I'd put my face in their soup and blow." - George Costanza

                                        CP article: SmartPager - a Flickr-style pager control with go-to-page popup layer.

                                        H Offline
                                        H Offline
                                        Hans Dietrich
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #48

                                        :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: That's a great support policy! But they should kick it up a notch and outsource their support center to some other country. It's always delicious to insult someone in a language they don't understand.

                                        Best wishes, Hans


                                        [CodeProject Forum Guidelines] [How To Ask A Question] [My Articles]

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • B Brady Kelly

                                          This morning, as champion of the innocent, brave, caffeine fuelled warrior for fellow developers, I rattled off an email to Michael Nesmith of InstallAware, and received the following response: Thank you for your concern Brady, but we have a lot more history with these crooks than, of course, what their limited copy-paste shows. I would encourage you to evaluate InstallAware on your own terms and sample our services if you are truly interested in the product. Otherwise, I hope you have enjoyed the freak show. Unfortunately, these people have stolen our and our partner company IP's multiple times, and we will not dignify them with any kind of public response. Thanks... Michael Nesmith Technical Support Representative InstallAware Software Corporation 336 Guerrero Street San Francisco CA 94103-3332 415 839 5017 -----Original Message----- From: Brady Kelly [mailto:xxx] Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 11:31 AM To: michaeln@installaware.com Subject: Candice Jones I hope you realise just how many sales this [1] has truly cost you. I have never come across such disgusting behaviour in thirteen years of developing or buying software. [1] http://www.codeproject.com/Lounge.aspx?fid=1159&df=10000&mpp=25&noise=3&sort =Position&view=Quick&fr=26&select=2994975#xx2994975xx


                                          Last modified: 3hrs 46mins after originally posted --

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                                          ian dennis 0
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #49

                                          I have no idea what message your link is pointing to. When I apply it (and carefully add the second line), I see displayed the following 4 postings: - Apple is about to hit a billion .... - XSD editor.. choices.. choices.. - I think it's going to be a good Easter! - Project at Work Having read all 4 very carefully, i see no connection to InstallAware. So I am missing out on what your rant is actually about!!! :(

                                          B 1 Reply Last reply
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