+ 1 on WiX. I personally hate it, but I can't deny that it's not powerful. If you don't mind doing a lot of xml, then this is the most cost effective option. Using commercial products has its benefits, obviously hiding a lot of the complexity of creating installers, but also come with a price tag and a learning curve of their own. Depending on your needs, it may be actually more cost effective to buy rather than learning WiX.
- Steve On 21 April 2011 09:49, Matt Siebert <mlsieb...@gmail.com> wrote: > I can't comment on the top three. > > I've been using WiX for a while now and it's pretty good, but the learning > curve can be rather steep at times. A lot of the complexity comes from > Windows Installer, and this is probably the same to some degree for any tool > that targets Windows Installer. I found the WiX documentation was a little > sparse too. For simple deployments it's not that difficult to get up and > running, but I often found myself googling for hours and having to piece > together information from many different sources to solve some issues. > Again, these were mostly Windows Installer issues and commercial tools > might shield you from some of these problems or possibly guide you in the > right direction. > > Having said that, WiX is quite powerful once you get over the hump, and at > least with WiX I can write custom actions in .NET - I'm not sure about how > well that's supported with commercial tools. > > For your .NET prerequisite make sure whatever tool you use can generate a > bootstrapper, or look into other options like dotNetInstaller. WiX has it's > own bootstrapper called Burn, currently in beta although I've read that it's > fairly stable. > > If you do want to use WiX then I'd recommend looking at MSI Factory. It > targets Windows Installer but can generate WiX files and has some > extensibility points so you can plug in your own custom WiX fragments. I > found that it's GUI exposed a lot of settings that I didn't even know > existed and the documentation was quite good too. SharpSetup is possibly > worth a look too, although the combination of Burn with a custom UI seems to > be a compelling alternative. > > Hope this helps. > > On Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 5:46 PM, Peter Maddin <petermad...@iinet.net.au>wrote: > >> I have been given the nod to purchase a commercial installer on the >> proviso it does not cost too much. >> >> >> >> I have used ClickOnce. While nice it does not provide what I need. Part of >> my software will be an application that needs to be driven via the >> TaskScheduler. I need to install to the “Programs Files” actually “Programs >> Files (x86)” folder. It is 32 bit as I am using a Remobjects Hydra plugin >> which means *it has to be 32 bit*. >> >> >> >> I know that there are some freeware installers available. I have use INNO >> for Delphi apps. I was going to look at WIX but am only aware that it >> exists at present. I have not looked at its features. >> >> >> >> The best commercial offerings appear to be >> >> · Install Shield Professional >> >> · BitRock’s Install Builder >> >> · InstallAware >> >> >> >> (I was aware of Wise, but this now appears to be discontinued) >> >> >> >> I know that some others exist but their web sites don’t impress me. These >> include >> >> · Install Creator Pro >> >> · Installer Vise for Windows >> >> · Scriptlogic <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scriptlogic> Desktop >> Authority MSI Studio >> >> >> >> My application is WPF based (includes one console application). I was >> targeting .NET 3.5 but will be moving this on to 4.0. So the .NET 4.0 >> redistributable is a perquisite. >> >> One thing I really liked about ClickOnce was its automatic updating >> capability . I would like to have this capability in the installer I will be >> using. >> >> >> >> What do others use? >> >> Has anyone had good or bad experiences with the top three? >> >> Is there some other product that is really good but is cheaper than the >> first three above? >> >> Is WIX so good, it makes considering a commercial installer not worth >> bothering (I doubt it but one has to ask)? >> >> >> >> Any feedback great appreciated. >> >> >> >> >> >> *Regards Peter Maddin* >> *Applications Development Officer* >> *Path**West Laboratory Medicine WA* >> *Phone : +618 6396 4285 >> Mobile: 0414 240 307* >> *E-Mail : petermad...@iinet.net.au; peter.mad...@health.wa.gov.au* >> *The contents of this e-mail transmission outside of the WAGHS network >> are intended solely for the named recipient's), may be confidential, and may >> be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure in the public interest. >> The use, reproduction, disclosure or distribution of the contents of this >> e-mail transmission by any person other than the named recipient(s) is >> prohibited. If you are not a named recipient please notify the sender >> immediately**.* >> >> >> >> >> > >
