Reviews
Review: InstallAnywhere.NET
InstallAnywhere.NET 3.0
$1199
Zero G
San Francisco, California
(415) 512-7771
www.zerog.com
Late last year Zero G purchased ActiveInstall, a promising new setup
authoring application. Now the product has finally resurfaced as
InstallAnywhere.NET. I grabbed a trial copy and gave it a short workout
to see how it stacks up. For some time Zero G has sold InstallAnywhere,
a proprietary multi-platform setup authoring tool. The new product fits
in as a Windows-only, MSI-based alternative.
InstallAnywhere.NET proves to be a very effective tool for editing MSI
files. You don't end up grubbing around in the actual MSI file at all
(indeed, for the most part you can't even get into the tables, though an
advanced mode does let you edit custom tables). Instead, a series of
tabbed dialogs (or sometimes tabs within tabs) let you access all the
features of the Windows Installer through a custom user interface. For
example, if you want to edit launch conditions, there's a launch
conditions editor to work in. Want to require .NET 1.1 and IIS 5.0 or
better installed before your application? Two mouse clicks and you're
there. All the parts of the Installer file appear to be thoroughly
covered.
All of this is hosted within a modern IDE that's easy to navigate,
replete with the usual dockable windows and customizable toolbars and so
on. There are also some additional tools to make life even easier. For
example, there's a full IDE for editing dialogs, an analyzer for
installer log files, and a handy tool to help you build command lines
for msiexec.
Beyond that, there are some extra goodies lurking on the Web site,
including merge modules and templates to extend what the product can
install easily. You'll also be able to download a version of VBA that
can be used to program InstallAnywhere.NET itself, though that isn't yet
available.
ActiveInstall was a promising entrant to the setup tools category before
the merger. Now it's looking even spiffier with its new name and
extended capabilities. With the ability to handle such chores as COM+
and IIS setup, as well as an excellent GUI for dealing with more routine
Windows Installer setups, it's one that you should evaluate when you're
in the market for a setup tool. They've got a 14-day trial that you can
check out.