(Updated to fix broken hyperlinks)
On October 18, 2009 Acresso released the latest version of their setup authoring tool InstallShield, which reportedly is used by over 71,000 ISVs and enterprises to create installers for Windows and mobile devices.
What's new in InstallShield 2010
- Supports Microsoft App-V with new InstallShield Virtualization Pack - in addition to Windows Installer (MSI) and proprietary InstallScripts, developers can now create virtual application packages for Microsoft App-V (formerly Softgrid)
- New Microsoft technologies supported natively in InstallShield – InstallShield 2010 supports Windows 7 and MSI 5 features so developers can use them now on Windows XP and Vista platforms. It also has support for Windows Server 2008 R2.
- Improved support for Web applications – Expanded IIS features now include all IIS 7 settings.
- IDE usability improvements – New flattened architecture and dynamic and global searching significantly increase developer productivity. Developers can spend 10 minutes to learn the new IDE and then benefit from significant time saved on daily tasks.
- More options for runtime user-experience customization – ISVs have more customization options to create user experience and branding with new support for billboards, Flash, HTML, and hyperlinks. New branding options can help ISVs up/cross-sell their software by adding more user interaction through the installation process.
- Better support for multi-language installation – InstallShield now supports Unicode. Also developers will save significant time by having a single view of all languages with dynamic searching and replacing global settings at once.
- plus over 400 new and enhanced features from customer requests
Detailed information can be found in the datasheet and in the release notes:
If you’re in Europe you can buy InstallShield 2010 from the InstallSite Shop.
Changes in Activation Process and EULA
Changes in the End User License Agreement (EULA) and in the activation process include:
- Licenses can now be “de-activated” manually, even offline.
- Activation needs to be repeated on a yearly basis.
- Using InstallShield in a virtual machine is now allowed.
I have created a side-by-side comparison of the old and the new EULA and a summary of the changes in the activation process. For full details please read Acresso’s official documents:
End of Life announced for InstallShield 12 and InstallAnywhere 8
Together with the release of InstallShield 2010 Acresso also announced the end of life for InstallShield 12 and InstallAnywhere 8 (all language editions). This means that you can upgrade from these versions only until October 30, 2009. After that date you would have to pay the full license price.
October 31, 2009 is the deadline for the following product versions:
- InstallShield 12 (all languages)
- InstallShield 2008 German
- InstallShield 2009 German
- InstallAnywhere 8 (all languages)
- InstallAnywhere 2008 (German and French)
- InstallAnywhere 2009 (German and French)
The end of life for the localized German versions of InstallShield and the German and French versions of InstallAnywhere had already been announced two weeks ago.
The English versions of InstallShield 2008 and higher and InstallAnywhere 2008 and higher are not affected by this announcement.
More information about these end of life announcements can be found in the InstallSite Shop and the Acresso Website.