Installer Software

2009 Mar 02

InstallShield

InstallShield Multiplatform is at end of life and will see no further improvements, and has minimal support, therefore switching to InstallAnywhere is the way to go. The question is which Edition.

InstallAnywhere

The feature comparison is at: home. This comparison shows that the abilities to set environment variables, delete folders, and other features are only available in the Enterprise Edition.

The Operating Systems supported are: Windows, Linux, MacOS, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX. See more comprehensive feature documentation on: features. The product is capable of cross platform build provided the appropriate target files are available for inclusion in each build. Installers can be created for 1 or more CDs (if size is too big), automatic web installers, both with or without a jre in case one is not yet available on the host the install is to be done on. The migration path from InstallShield Multiplatform is documented on: migration.

The download page also has links to their detailed user manuals.
The pricelist includes the ability to find out discounts for upgrading ($3999 or $5899 w/maintenance).

InstallJammer

Links:

InstallJammer was found to be full of bugs, slower than the others since it is tcl based, and with poor documentation. Then of course there is no guaranteed support mechanism other than email to a forum which may or may not ever answer you. To be fair, InstallJammer is fine (and the price is right - free) if you have a simple and relatively small install to create. But then WinZip will work for a simple install too.

WinZip

Link: www.winzip.com

WinZip is able to install multiple files and directories. It does not support the execution of code or decison making as do the above installer software products, nor did it ever try to. The cost is low and it supports many kinds of packaging algorithms.

2008