I feel your pain. Over the years I have used lots of install technologies, installShield (script and windows installer), wise (script and windows installer), inno setup, plain batch files, custom exes, NSIS etc, etc. The only one that has provided me with a 100% reliable installation is windows installer - WIX is just a method for creating Windows Installer files. I would agree that it is not the simplest tools to learn but that is because installing on Windows is not simple, you could argue that is the problem. Inno is really good, I have got reasonable results very quickly but there are issues. Your choice is script based installer (Inno etc) vs a database of installation tasks (Windows Installer).
For me the reason for using WiX to create Windows Installer files are: text source (good for version control), easy integration to build tools, no licencing issues (a lot of companies don't get build servers), and Microsoft recommend it and use it. Downside, a lot to learn but a lot of that is a Windows Installer issue not WiX. At the end of the day it is your choice but if you ask the question here I suspect most people would recommend WiX (mind you it is like trying to find a vegan in McDonalds!). If you can invest the time you will get a better install experience with Windows Installer but you have to be prepared to invest that time, far too many developers/PMs believe installers are just a trivial bit at the end - as Rob's tag line says "because setup isn't just xcopy". This is bit trite but if I ruled the development teams I would write the install first and then do the boring application development bit :-) Neil -----Original Message----- From: Katherine Moss [mailto:katherine.m...@gordon.edu] Sent: 04 October 2012 20:43 To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. (wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net) Subject: [WiX-users] I have heard that MSI is too complicated from a programmer's prospective Hi guys, Since I am just learning to be a .NET C# programmer, can somebody shed light on why using WiX over something like Inno would be more complicated and why programmers are often less compelled to use WiX? I'm asking this because my friend has got a project he's working on where the main programmer is insistent on using Inno instead of WiX. It's bothering me because if my friend wants his product to be more administrator-friendly and compatible with group policy, doesn't he need to be using MSI technologies? I mean, he wants that administrative/ease-of-deployment across multiple servers/workstations edge, but is he going to get it using Inno? And if not, then what can I say to these people to help dispel the supposed "complications" of Windows Installer? Thanks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don't let slow site performance ruin your business. Deploy New Relic APM Deploy New Relic app performance management and know exactly what is happening inside your Ruby, Python, PHP, Java, and .NET app Try New Relic at no cost today and get our sweet Data Nerd shirt too! http://p.sf.net/sfu/newrelic-dev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don't let slow site performance ruin your business. Deploy New Relic APM Deploy New Relic app performance management and know exactly what is happening inside your Ruby, Python, PHP, Java, and .NET app Try New Relic at no cost today and get our sweet Data Nerd shirt too! http://p.sf.net/sfu/newrelic-dev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
