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Review: InstallShield Express

• By Mike Gunderloy
• November 19, 2003

InstallShield Express 5
$349
InstallShield Software Corp.
Schaumburg, Illinois
(847) 466-4000
http://www.installshield.com

A couple of issues ago, I looked at InstallShield's new DevStudio 9, the does-everything setup tool. But what if your needs are somewhat more modest? InstallShield's answer to that question is InstallShield Express 5, a simpler (and less expensive) version of the application.

Superficially, Express looks much like its big brother. There's the same excellent Product Assistant to guide you through the steps of building a setup program. This makes creating a setup as simple as filling out a bunch of forms. If you prefer, you can use the Installation Designer which offers a more traditional interface in the form of a bunch of property grids.

You can start with a blank project, or with a Wizard that will build a project from a VB6, VB .NET, Visual C++, or C# project. There's also a Smart Device wizard that lets you target Windows CE or SmartPhone devices. Installing technologies such as MDAC, MSDE, or the Scripting runtime is as simple as checking a box. These tasks are handled by merge modules, and InstallShield offers updated merge modules for downloading.

Of course, Express can't do everything that DevStudio can. Here are a few of the missing features that might cause you to upgrade to the premium package:

• Dialog editing
• Conditional inclusion of features
• User interface debugging
• Merge module creation
• InstallScript custom actions
• MSI validation

Still, I'd guess that at least 60% of the applications out there would do just fine with a setup built with Express rather than DevStudio. InstallShield did a good job of focusing this release on the essentials, while leaving truly high-end features for the high-end package. And upgrading is simple, so you can try Express and then move up to DevStudio if you need to without losing any work.