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Software Packaging Formats for Windows?
darkdepeche asks: "My department is attempting to standardize on a software packaging format for the majority of our clients (which generally use Windows 2000/XP desktops). I've been very impressed with the .deb/apt system that Debian and some other Linux flavours use, I wonder if any other slashdotters use something similar to this on a Windows platform? Using the traditional Installer is a possibility but the tools are cumbersome and quite expensive. We need something that would handle several hundred applications, hotfixes, service packs, and keep history for them all. Has anyone else worked on a project like this?" InstallShield can be more complex than it needs to be and can be very hard to use. Have any of you come across an installer for Windows that is easy to use, can uninstall whatever has been installed, can manage the registry and also (maybe) have versioning controls similar to what is offered by .dpkg/Apt?
(A few years ago, I was employed by WISE Solutions.)
Installing on Windows is not just a matter of ease. It is also a matter of knowing what works, and what doesn't work on all platforms. Hacking the registry is easy, *knowing when* to hack it is not so easy. InstallShield can be very complex, but it allows great flexibility. WISE is generally easier to use, and generally has what you need.
After seeing countless scripts, I can say that most people (of whose scripts I've seen) do not know what is going on. Luckily they used a tool, or else who knows what sort of damage they would have caused.
Considering a decent tool costs less than one thousand dollars, it is well worth the time you will save learning how to install files. Also, considering the main tools keep up with Microsoft rules (usually) there are less "gotchas" to worry about.
Both WISE and InstallShield have strong userbases. You can easily tap into a lot of knowledge with those tools.
Have you read my journal today?
Plus, MSI supports one feature found nowhere else (except on Sorcerer Linux): it can set stuff to auto-install on first use. Let's say you copy Office to a network server, for example, and install everything on clients at "first use". The install will end up taking you a couple minutes per workstation. The first time that someone on a client computer opens Word, it will automatically download, install, and set up Word, with no additional work required from you, the administrator.