InstallSite Blog

Tarma Installer 5.1 released

Tarma Software Research announces the release of Tarma Installer 5.1. Tarma Installer 5 helps you to create installation ("Setup") programs for your own software product. Major new features of Tarma Installer 5 include support for x64 Windows versions, .Net support, fully editable installer dialogs and dialog sequences, fully editable installer action sequences, and comprehensive localization support.

The 5.1 release adds support for Windows side-by-side assemblies. This includes automatic backward compatibility with pre-XP Windows versions that do not support SxS functionality. It also adds Visual Basic 6 runtime libraries as an add-on to the Tarma Installer download page, to make it easier to add VB6 support to your installer.

With Tarma Installer 5 you can install and remove programs, documents, images, multi-media files, TrueType® and OpenType® fonts, .Net assemblies, ActiveX controls, COM servers, type libraries, WinHelp files, device drivers, services, registry updates, INI files, environment variables, program groups, shortcuts, and third-party tools.

The Tarma development environment, its project files, and the Tarma installation database and Setup program are Unicode-based from the ground up to ensure that all localization remains intact. Tarma installer 5 supports feature and component based installation as well as add-on and update installers and can import MSI merge modules.

The development environment is intuitive and easy to use and boasts more than 500 different preflight checks to spot potential problems before you deploy your installation. Tarma Installer 5 is small, fast, and has excellent compression, making your installation packages as compact as possible, thus saving download time and disk space.

To evaluate Tarma Installer 5, users can download an unlimited trial version from the company's website.

• Product information and trial download
• 20% discount coupon for InstallSite users

(Text based on a press release from Tarma Software Research Pty)

appEditor is now InstEd, and Installer2Go has a new owner

News about two freeware/shareware tools for creating Windows Installer setups.

appEditor is a Windows Installer authoring tool from Camwood Ltd. Recently the original author has resumed the rights to appEditor and published an improved version under the name InstEd. Both InstEd and the previous version of appEditor are available as freeware.

• InstEd web site

In the past months I had received some worrying information about Installer2Go, a Windows Installer authoring tool from SDS Software. Users told me that the ordering process didn't work properly, the company didn't reply to e-mails, and one user even didn't receive a license key after paying the registration fee.

I just discovered that wItem Software acquired "certain rights to distribute, maintain, and further develop Installer2Go" in September 2007. According to their web site, the development of Installer2Go was partially funded by wItem Software.

wItem Software also offers another Windows Installer authoring tool: wItem Installer for Java lets you create MSI setups for Java applications on Windows, and also native packages for Mac OS.

Installer2Go is marked as "freeware" on the home page, but as "try-before-buy software" elsewhere on the web site.

• wItem Software web site

Caution: the SDS Software site and shop is still online.

New Advanced Installer 6.3 brings Vista Games Explorer integration and Visual Studio Setup projects import

On May 9th, 2008 Caphyon Ltd. announced the latest edition of its Windows Installer authoring tool. The new Advanced Installer enables developers and system administrators to easily build and repackage complex applications into reliable, ready to deploy MSI and EXE installers, patches and on-line updates.

The 6.3 version delivers tremendous time-saving features for game developers: one-click integration in Windows Vista's Games Explorer and registration in Windows Media Center.

Also new is an advanced, full-control mode for media volumes and CAB archive settings, allowing you to finely tune the way your products are compressed, packaged and delivered to your customers.

You can quickly convert your existing Microsoft Visual Studio Setup projects to Advanced Installer using the new addition to its powerful import capabilities.

Other improvements in this version:

• Full Windows Games Explorer integration and Media Center registration support
• Importing Visual Studio Setup projects
• Authoring patches in form of downloadable EXE files
• Another new addition full customization capabilities for media volumes and CAB archives in advanced mode
• Aero Wizard style on Vista for Updater
• Repeat support for Scheduled Tasks
• Predefined Java Runtime Environment launch condition
• Predefined Custom Actions for handling data in ListBox and ComboBox controls
• New Build Content tab for at-a-glance build reports
• Status page displayed in Bootstrapper when prerequisites searches are performed
• Command Line option to specify languages to be included in the package
• Sandbox testing of Prerequisite conditions
• Building packages only in a specified language

Advanced Installer is available in four editions, starting with the Freeware community edition and offering a 30-day trial period for the other editions.

For more information about Advanced Installer please see:
www.installsite.biz/advancedinstaller.htm

(Text based on a press release from Caphyon Ltd.)

Webcast: Application Virtualization with AdminStudio and Thinstall

On Wednesday, May 14, VMware (makers of Thinstall) and Acresso (makers of AdminStudio) will hold a free online webcast titled "Application Virtualization Reduces Costs with Conflict Free Applications".

Description:

Use Thinstall and AdminStudio to reduce costs by delivering conflict free, virtualized applications. VMware Thinstall lets you deploy virtual applications that require no client-side agents or server infrastructure, making them ideal for many environments. AdminStudio now gives you the power to quickly create, edit and test Thinstall virtual applications with the ability to automatically convert MSIs directly to Thinstall virtual packages and deploy via your software delivery tool of choice. When used in combination, these solutions help to cut IT costs by eliminating potential conflicts between applications, reducing OS migration dependencies and leveraging existing infrastructure. Whether you are working with one or several management tools, the combined solution enables you to standardize your packaging processes to deploy conflict free applications across virtual and physical desktops throughout the extended enterprise.

View this Webcast to learn how VMware Thinstall and Acresso AdminStudio can help you:

• Slash support costs by 25% by eliminating application conflicts
• Cut application time to deployment from months to days
• Eliminate costly conversion and testing overhead
• Reduce application and OS (XP, Vista) migration costs and user impact

Date and Time:
May 14th 2008
16:00 UTC = 09:00 AM Pacific = 18:00 Germany
other time zones

Register for the webcast

You can buy Thinstall and AdminStudio from the InstallSite Shop.

Basic Introduction to InstallShield and Windows Installer

Found a nice blog article by Susan Gorman that introduces Windows Installer and InstallShield's role:

• Basic Introduction to InstallShield and Windows Installer