Meeting with the Windows Installer Team
Yesterday, as part of the Microsoft MVP Global Summit, I was sitting down with the Windows Installer team: Tyler Robinson (PM), Hemchander "Hem" Sannidhanam, Mark Rovetta (doc writer), and Carolyn Napier (dev lead). We had some great discussions, but unfortunately most of the topics are under NDA.
But I think I can share a bit of what I told them: I thanked Hem for his recent posts on the MSI Team Blog about new features in MSI 4.5, and I encouraged him and the other team members to keep blogging more frequently. I also asked them to blog not only about new features and major changes, but also about seemingly small improvements and fixes. Typically, there are no comprehensive release notes when a new version of Windows Installer ships, and the blog could compensate for this.
For me, one important takeaway from the meeting was that the MSI team is really willing to improve Windows Installer. They are taking user concerns and requests serious. In the past they haven't always been able to address these, but I think we can expect some improvement in the time to come. (Sorry that I can't be more specific, but keep an eye on their blog)