Wix - an XML Open Source Installer

There are some programming jobs that I hated and creating or modifying Installshield scripts was one of them. When I worked at a software house we had to supply install CDs and though it was all automated, occasionally changes were needed. The Installshield version we had was about 5 versions behind the current one, but the debugger was fine for the very rare issues we had.

Creating the software that creates installations would not appeal to me either but I'm very impressed with people who do. Rather than go down the Installshield script route, the Wix open source team use xml to define the builds. The project documentation is pretty extensive but I suspect there's still quite a learning curve. There's also Votive, a Visual Studio package that adds intellisense and syntax highlighting so you can create Wix setup projects.

Ultimately it boils down to time versus money. If you have the time, you can save the cost of a commercial installer like Installshield or Wise. Wix is a pretty good place to start. It's a very feature full application though not one I'll be using any day soon! Permanent link added to C# code library.

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