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 <[email protected]>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 : [email protected]; [email protected]* > *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**.* > > > > >
