I Need a Windows Installer

So I'm getting ready to deploy an application to a client's QA team and I've decided that I'm not happy with the Packaging and Deployment Wizard included with Visual Studio 6.0. I guess technically it does the job, but it doesn't do it very well and making changes is a hassle.

Coincidentally, I read not too long ago that Joel of JoelOnSoftware.com was also looking in to windows installers. He was considering the big-guns of the industry: Wise and InstallShield. In the end he decided to stick with his current solution: Inno Setup.

I already knew that InstallShield was overkill for my purposes and I figured that Wise would be too. A co-worked had recently recommended Z-Up Maker. Unfortunately, it hasn't been fully translated to English and the last thing I want is to make my clients nervous with a non-English error message during the installation process.

So I found myself looking at Inno Setup. It is excellent. It forgoes a bloated interface and just presents a simple text-based editor for creating installation scripts. I started with one of the samples and modified it to include the files that were relevant for my project. I then looked through the documentation to find out how to do things like change the install image and launch the program once installed.

It took me all of half a day to figure this software out and feel confident that I was doing things right. And on top of all that, it's free. Incredible.