InstallSite Blog

Webcast: Application Virtualization with AdminStudio and Thinstall

2008-05-08T16:13:44Z

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

2008-05-07T07:56:40Z

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

Basic Introduction to InstallShield and Windows Installer

Upgrade offer for old InstallShield and AdminStudio versions

2008-04-24T12:41:39Z

There's currently a special offer that allows owners of InstallShield and AdminStudio to upgrade to the current version at a reduced price. InstallShield versions older than 11.0 and AdminStudio versions older than 7.0 are no longer entitled to regular upgrade pricing. However users of these version can now get a 30% discount off the full version when ordering before May 30.

The offer applies to the following product versions (overview, please send your serial number for detailed verification):

For upgrades to InstallShield 2008 Premier, Professional or Express:

InstallShield X and 10.5
InstallShield DevStudio 9
InstallShield Developer 7.x -8.x
InstallShield Professional 5.x-7.x
InstallShield for Windows Installer 1.x-2.x
InstallShield 3
InstallShield X Express
InstallShield Express 2.x-5.x

For upgrades to AdminStudio 8.6:

AdminStudio 1.x-6.x

This is a good chance to move to a supported version if you didn't upgrade for a longer timer. If you want to take advantage of this offer, please don't wait for the last day. Verifying the serial number of your (very) old product may require some research and discussion with the manufacturer, which might take a few days.

For owners of supported versions (InstallShield 11.0-12.0 and AdminStudio 7.0-8.5) there's also a discount offer: they will receive 10% off the upgrade price when ordering before May 30.

For more information and ordering:
InstallSite Shop

Meeting with the Windows Installer Team

2008-04-18T01:57:05Z

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)

Traveling to the Microsoft MVP Summit

2008-04-10T17:45:19Z

On April 1st, Microsoft has awarded me (again) as a Most Valuable Professional (MVP) in the area of Setup & Deployment:

click to enlarge

Each year, MVPs are invited to a global summit at Seattle and on the Microsoft campus in Redmond. This is a great chance to meet with the Windows Installer team, other Microsofties and fellow MVPs . So I'll be traveling to Seattle from April 12-19. The schedule is filled with sessions from early morning until late in the evening (we'll have some fun, too :) ). Therefore I apologize in advance for being slow in replying to e-mails and not checking the forums frequently.

Tarma Installer 5 released

2008-04-10T17:41:39Z

Press release from Tarma Software Research Pty:

Tarma Software Research announces the release of Tarma Installer 5. 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.

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.

Web Server Maintenance - Back online

2008-04-09T13:52:18Z

The web server which is hosting parts of InstallSite (like the forum) is currently offline after a hard disk failure. It should be back within a few hours. I apologize for the inconvenience.

UPDATE: The server is back online. Took longer than expected - sorry.

One-Click Install (OCI) Security Vulnerability in InstallShield 12

2008-04-02T07:04:47Z

A security vulnerability has been reported in the One-Click Install ActiveX control in InstallShield 12. The problem only exists in the InstallScript project type; Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI are not affected. The vulnerability only exists in InstallShield version 12. A fix is available. If you are using One-Click Installs (OCI) in InstallShield 12 you should install the fix, rebuild your setup and update your HTML code with the new control.

InstallShield knowledge base article Q113640

Acresso Software now owns InstallShield etc.

2008-04-02T00:10:36Z

As of today, Acresso Software is the new company that produces the InstallShield, InstallAnywhere, AdminStudio and FLEXnet product families.

Back in February, Macrovision Corp. announced that they are selling their Software Business Unit to private equity firm Thoma Cressey Bravo (TCB) for $200 million. This resulted in a stand-alone company called Acresso Software Inc.

I don't know how they made up the company name, maybe it's taken from the owning company: THOMA CRESSEY BRAVO

The new company is located in Schaumburg near Chicago, the former headquarters of InstallShield Software Corp. According to information given in a conference call in February, the new company not only took over the software and know how from Macrovision, but also all the employees from Macrovision's software unit as well as some people from shared services such as marketing.

I don't know yet when and how the products will be re-branded.

MSI 4.5 Beta Chat, and change in the MSI team

2008-03-10T12:52:23Z

On April 3, 2008 there will be a chat with the MSI team at Microsoft about MSI 4.5 beta. The chat is public (not limited to beta testers) and will start at 10 a.m. PDT, which is equivalent to 17:00 UTC.

additional time zones
add to calendar
enter chat room (requires Windows Live ID)
announcement on the MSI team blog

The msi team also plans to publish MSI 4.5 beta 2 "within the next few weeks". This will be the last beta before RTM.

New/old MSI program manager

There's also a change in leadership of the MSI team. Robert Flaming is leaving the MSI team and moving to Microsoft's Developer Division where he'll work to improve "the logistical hand-offs between developer and user" (which I guess will also include setup & deployment topics).

Tyler Robinson returns as the program manager for Windows Installer, after being away from the MSI team for almost a year.

New Advanced Installer 6.2 brings MSI, MSM and Eclipse projects import

2008-03-07T18:51:40Z

On March 6th, 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 6.2 version focuses on further shortening the time required to create new MSI installers. Import your existing Eclipse projects for your Java products, take advantage of the new wizards to quickly create unified 32/64-bit installers, save ready-to-use templates for your future projects.

Additional Prerequisites and launch conditions are readily defined to be included in your installers with just a mouse click: .Net Framework 3.5, Adobe Acrobat Reader and the new service packs for Windows XP (SP3), Vista (SP1) and Server 2008.

A powerful import feature can handle both MSI installers and MSM merge modules allowing you to open and edit completed, third-party packages for further easy customization in Advanced Installer before deployment.

Other improvements in this version:

Importing Eclipse projects into For Java projects
Importing merge modules into new or existing projects
Importing MSIs into existing projects
Template projects
Ability to define Searches per each build
Ability to define Launch Conditions per each build
Wizard for creating new features
Wizard for creating unified 32/64-bit packages
Predefined .Net Framework 3.5 launch condition and prerequisite
Predefined Acrobat Reader prerequisite and launch condition
Newly released OS Service Packs launch conditions
Serbian language localization
Catalan language localization
MSI-like wizard-style bootstrapper UI with customizable dialog and banner images
Bootstrapper command line for setting installation language
Ability to merge 64-bit merge modules into mixed 32/64-bit packages

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.)

Macrovision sells Software Unit (InstallShield, AdminStudio, FLEXnet) to TCB

2008-02-15T10:46:34Z

Macrovision Corp. announced that they are going to sell their Software Business Unit (including the InstallShield, AdminStudio and FLEXnet product lines) to private equity firm Thoma Cressey Bravo (TCB). The cash transaction valued at approximately $200 million is expected to close on or before April 1, 2008.

The transaction will result in a stand-alone company focused on providing solutions that help simplify the business relationship between software producers and enterprises. All products and associated support and services from within the Software Business Unit are part of the transaction. Mark Bishof, currently Macrovision’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Software Business Unit, will assume the role of CEO for the stand-alone software company following the close of the transaction.

Besides the FLEXnet product line, the Software Business Unit includes InstallShield and AdminStudio which Macrovision acquired in 2004 for $76 million, and InstallAnywhere which was acquired in 2005 for an undisclosed amount.

TCB is investing in businesses in those sectors that can grow both organically (through changes in their cost structure and expansion of their revenues) and by acquiring and integrating similar businesses.

TCB investments include Attachmate Corp. and NetIQ Corp. (an Attachmate business). These companies offer systems and lifecycle management solutions, including the WinINSTALL MSI Packager. So InstallShield (setup authoring for ISVs), AdminStudio (MSI packaging for corporate IT) and FLEXnet (software protection and license management) might be a good fit to TCB's portfolio.