InstallAnywhere features

[jedimaster_mark]

Hi group:

I apologize if this posting seems misplaced. I have been an InstallShield developer for some time, but am now faced with the prospect of needing to use InstallAnywhere. To that end, I have been trying to research features of the product, but have not been able to find much of anything about how InstallAnywhere handles upgrades. Can anyone just briefly explain to me the methods used to handle product upgrades with IA?

Thanks,
Mark

[pv7721]

Hello Jedi Master! 🙂 I guess this post is not misplaced at all, on the contrary! I know what they usually say, that the bringer of the bad news is killed, but I'm afraid that there isn't anything much builtin in IA in order to easily implement upgrade installers. There used to be the PowerUpdate technology, but I'm afraid that when Macrovision acquired ZeroG (http://www.zerog.com/newsItems/news_050613_macrovision-acquires-zero-g-software.html) they announced they were going to support the existing user for 1 or 2 years: "PowerUpdate: We will support existing customers for 12-24 months. Existing customers are also entitled to an attractive upgrade offer to Macrovision's Update Service" (http://www.zerog.com/macrovision-zero-g-faq.html#five) Even InstallAnywhere itself uses this Update Service...

[jedimaster_mark]

Oh no, only tyrants and despots kill messengers when they should go after their employers. 😉

So... any idea what is happening with this now that Acresso is taking over?

How do you deal with upgrades? I had thought of trying tom convince my company to try deploying their app with an MSI (with which I am far more familiar) since that has built-in upgrade handling, but then I learned that there are all sorts of things you want to have in a Java installer, such as building the custom exes at install time.... so I am trying to find a way to handle upgrades, since that is actually the #1 thing people want out of this installer.

[pv7721]

Well, up to some time a go, precisely because writing an upgrade was such complicate task (and because the way our application is written, which requires some data migration) each version represented a full install, but recently we've developped a patch mechanism (but which doesn't require IA).

I've noticed a change with the software unit separating into Acresso: I've entered a support ticket and then I've received an answer and a resolution something like 30 minutes later? Now that's a change when comparing to Macrovision! 🙂

[jedimaster_mark]

Wow. Fantastic. My management's going to love hearing that.

I really need to change careers.

[pv7721]

I heard that the Empire is hiring, care to join the dark side of the Force? 😄

[bjfrary]

IA is missing a lot of features that MP had. It's custom code option is a pain in the neck.

MP had the ability to plug in beans. The framework was extremely flexible. IA is not