/build/static/layout/Breadcrumb_cap_w.png

Wise Installation Studio 7.0 Discontinued - Where should we go now?

Hello All,

It seems that WIS has come to an end, Symantecs usual way of announcement is the removal of links to the product:
http://www.symantec.com/business/wise-installation-studio

And now Installshield/Flexera and making a play of it (so they should!!) :

http://www.flexerasoftware.com/promolanding/11172.htm

What do you recommend we do as we have > 9m customers rolled out with our software and as you can imagine we need a pretty reliable and pain free alternative. Would WPS suffice?


Kind Regards

Paul

0 Comments   [ + ] Show comments

Answers (5)

Posted by: anonymous_9363 14 years ago
Red Belt
0
WPS is more or less WIS with bells on (e.g. Conflict Management) so, if you want a relatively painless transition, then WPS is the route of least resistance. There is a H U G E caveat, however.

From where I'm sitting, Symantec grabbed Altiris for one reason and one reason only: Altiris Deployment System. The Wise family came along by default. Under Symantec's stewardship (and Altiris's before, to be fair), the Wise product family has been left to wilt. Their record of keeping up with technology is - to put it kindly - woeful. The straw which broke the camel's back for me was that v7 SP4 was launched as v8. Consequently, even though I prefer WPS to IS in day-to-day use, I have been advising clients using it to plan a move to IS instead of to WPS v8.
Posted by: HotSpot 14 years ago
Orange Senior Belt
0
Thanks for the information. Its quite a leap for us to use IS but given that there are regular updates I think it would be wise to move over (no pun intended!)

We probably will go for Premier edition given the language support - but from first glance at the product I am already missing some of the wizard type features like Firewall exception configuration :(

Paul
Posted by: gyancher 14 years ago
Senior Yellow Belt
0
I am using WPS v8 as a followup of WPS v7 and I love it. Ok, it costs some money, but the support from Symantec is nice and it works every time for me packaging our software.
Posted by: anonymous_9363 14 years ago
Red Belt
0
As I said, I prefer WPS to IS (I would hesitate to say that I love it, though). The issue is the foot-dragging, snail's pace in keeping up with technology. Can you remember how long it took for them to add 64-bit support, for example? Shameful...utterly shameful...
Posted by: pjgeutjens 14 years ago
Red Belt
0
I'd like to mention that, having made the switch from Wise to InstallShield myself a number of years ago, it wasn't that painful [;)]. I can understand you'll miss a number of custom Wise Wizards and a certain way of working, but in the end they're both shells on top of the same Windows Installer tech. Tbh, the only things I miss in Installshield from time to time are WiseScript (and there I have VBS) and what I seem to remember as easier recompiles of MSIs with different media options. But that's about it...

I'd say Paul, that, definitely given the current outlook of WPS, it's time to bite the bullet and switch. Maybe get someone in with IS experience for a few months, to ease the transition. If that's an option.

Be sure to share your experiences [:)]

PJ
Rating comments in this legacy AppDeploy message board thread won't reorder them,
so that the conversation will remain readable.
 
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site and/or clicking the "Accept" button you are providing consent Quest Software and its affiliates do NOT sell the Personal Data you provide to us either when you register on our websites or when you do business with us. For more information about our Privacy Policy and our data protection efforts, please visit GDPR-HQ