Need Installer Yesterday (Wise)

[Birth]

Had a look at the Wise Installer but couldn't find much about it.

Even the price is obscure. And also where to buy!? I think it's going for 450$.

Does anyone use it for Windows 7 64b?

I managed to talk to someone over there about a month ago and he told me that it wasn't Windows 7 ready at the time.

So, I really don't know what to do. I tried the demo but I can't go too fare whit that and now,
the 30 days are over. The setup could not install my app on my other machine. Had some weird licensing issues.

Their page doesn't even talk about 7. Any ideas?:confused:

We're actually losing customers those days because of that 64 bit thing.

Thanks for any light on the subject.

[dilettante]

Are your requirements too exotic to use the PDW or VSI 1.1? Or if this is a .Net application... the Visual Studio Installer Project mechanism?

There a number of other 3rd party products you might consider as well. See Deployment FAQ (http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=315829).

[Birth]

Ya, I installed that Inno thing but I wasn't sure what to do in there.

I have a hell of a lot to install, 25 years of work;
SOAP, Acrobat Reader and others... should be part of the process.
There are 6 or 7 other apps that can be selected and a main one. Don’t get me started on OCX and DLLs…

All from VB6

Is it worth the look into PDW or VSI 1.1?

Thanks for your response!

[dilettante]

Acrobat reader has some restrictions on it.

To distribute it you have to "sign" an agreement with them. I think part of what you agree to is that you can disitribute their installer package and offer the user the option of firing it off, but you have to present their logo and give the user the option of installing it. You cannot silently install it as part of your software.

No matter which packaging technology you choose anything but simple programs will require some study and some care and planning. The more customization of the install experience (custom panels displayed, user install option selections, etc.) the more work will be involved. Sometimes there is just no substitute for a high quality commercial packaging product.

For anything done professionally I'd recommend something that creates Windows Installer packages. The older "scripted" installers are considered legacy now, and while they work this involves a number of appcompat tricks on the part of Windows. These are really only supported anymore to let users install old software from the past.

That doesn't mean you won't find occasion to use a wrapper EXE of some sort. This can be required when you're bundling installers into a single multipart install.

[Birth]

I just found this:
Effective April 19, 2010, Symantec will no longer be accepting orders for new licenses of Wise Installation Studio or Wise Installation Express. In addition, Symantec will no longer be accepting renewals for maintenance agreements related to Wise Installation Studio effective April 19, 2010.Isn’t that a rock in the road…

http://www.componentsource.com/products/wise-installation-studio/index-cad.html

[dilettante]

My guess is they bought Wise along the way, or by buying somebody else who bought Wise... and it was just one of those attempts to eliminate by acquisition. They've chosen to pick another (acquired) horse and put all their money on it instead.

Welcome to the dark side of untrammeled capitalism: the death of competition.