Jimco Software Reviews - Wise for Windows Installer 6.1 Professional (continued)
What is WFWI?
There are a lot of software installation packages on the market today, but the big players are InstallShield and Wise. (We contacted InstallShield and gave them an opportunity to be reviewed as well. They did not answer us.) Personally, the choice between these two is a no-brainer for me. I'll tell you why shortly.
A few years ago, Microsoft introduce the Windows Installer technology. The Windows Installer solves a lot of problems that software developers have been dealing with for years. It also provides a robust platform for patch development and problem-free installs. However, if you're going to provide your users with a good experience, you need to stick to the Windows Installer standard. Step far outside of that box and you're asking for trouble.
WFWI does not deviate from the Windows Installer standard. InstallShield does. That alone is enough for me to choose Wise over InstallShield every time, but there's more! InstallShield forces you to display the InstallShield brand on your installation packages. InstallShield will let you modify dialogs by creating your own skin, but the InstallShield logo is a requirement on these dialogs. To remove it, you must resort to a third-party "hack" of the InstallShield executables and once you do that, InstallShield has said that they will no longer support you.
Wise, on the other hand, allows you to change the dialogs any way you choose, no questions asked! You can remove any indication that it's a WFWI installation and Wise will fully support it. Why in the world would anyone choose to be restricted by an InstallShield product? Beats me!
So what is WFWI? In the simplest terms, it's an interface that allows you to build Windows Installer packages. However, as you'll see in this review, it's actually a lot more than that.
How It All Works
WFWI provides a few different interfaces for building Windows Installer packages. The Installation Expert is the easiest method. This method allows you to choose different categories from a menu bar and simply fill in the information needed to install your application. The Setup Editor provides more technical exposure into the Windows Installer engine, including direct access into the Windows Installer database tables. On the opposite side of the spectrum from the Installation Expert is the MSI Script interface which allows direct access to the Windows Installer script.
The Installation Expert (shown in figure 1) is where you're likely to spend the most time. Along the left side of the interface you'll find all of the categories of settings you can make. Some of these are required (such as what files are to be included in your installation) and others are optional.
Figure 1 - WFWI Installation Expert
As you can see, WFWI neatly packages all of the capabilities of the Windows Installer platform into an easy to use interface. In many cases, you'll just proceed through the different "pages" accessible via the link along the right edge of the dialog. Some of those pages are not necessary depending upon what kind of project you're creating. In other words, if you are not creating a setup for a Web application, there's no need to worry about configuring the Web Files page.