SB vs. Wise

[Unregistered]

I know Installshield is a horrorshow, but I was curious if anybody cared to comment on SB vs. Wise, especially if you were a Wise user and switched.

Obviously SB wins on price. Any other comments?

Thanks!

[Paul Swaine]

> I know Installshield is a horrorshow, but I was curious if anybody cared
> to
> comment on SB vs. Wise, especially if you were a Wise user and switched.
>
> Obviously SB wins on price. Any other comments?

Hello,

We have used the Wise Installation System 9 for several years, then switched to the Wise for Windows Installer product. Wise 9 was a good product, but the .msi technology is a nightmare (IMO). Unfortunately, Wise 9 is a dead product. A friend of mine suggested SetupBuilder 5 (we tried a late beta). And what should I say, I felt in love with it.

I have *full* control over the installation process. The installation executable is amazingly small and fast (with Wise for Windows installer it took more than 45 seconds before our customers saw the Welcome dialog; the same with Install$hield, btw).

I think there are more than 400-500 installation related functions available. I can do anything now, even calling into our own Visual Studio DLLs!

We have more than 6,000 users of our software. Absolutely no problem so far. We are using the web update functionality to live update our product.
The binary patch generates very small updates!

By the way, last month we have released a 64-bit beta version of a new product (VS2005) to 100 customers. It installed without any problem.

And last but not least, service and support is TOP NOTCH. I even had the chance to discussions some problems with the CEO (Freidrich Linder). What
should I say... I found all my suggestions in the next build.

Of course, my .02 ;-)

Paul Swaine

[linder]

Thank you for your kind words, Paul!

[Paul Swaine]

BTW, price was not the main issue in deciding to go with the SetupBuilder 5.2 solution. SB5 is clearly is the better product!

Paul Swaine

[TomW]

Last year we switched from Wise to InstallShield (the most buggy piece of software), then to SetupBuilder 5 (beta - Team5).

This week we have released an update with SetupBuilder 5.2 (build 1354) to 700 customers. Zero problems. Our team loves the product. Cool stuff!

You will not regret your purchase ;-) And the SetupBuilder community is always very nice.

Tom

[Unregistered]

OK, thanks for the feedback.

I was also a user of Wise Installation System 9, found it to be a great product, and for that reason first looked at Wise recently when I started to need something new for installing .NET apps. (I knew from previous experience to avoid Installshield).

I can see where SB might be a better choice, both on price and features. Wise got bought by another company and I read that some of their key people left. Also, they used to be the underdog with Installshield and had to try hard to win people over, now they have a better market position and maybe don't need to try so hard?

I'm leaning towards buying SB at this point.

[LSConsulting]

We moved from Wise 9 to SetupBuilder 5 because of problems, problems, problems with Altiris.

Wise 9 (not maintained any longer) does not support 64-bit installations or the new XP look and feel. Some functions do not work on Windows XP, 2003 or Vista. Technical support (for all Wise products) is non-existing.

We evaluated InstallShield X. Our application size is 15 MB (200 files). The InstallShield setup.exe was 22 MB! The update process was a nightmare, binary patches where way too large. And the installer was very slow. InstallShield sucks.

Then we tested SetupBuilder 5. Wow - the same setup.exe was only 8 MB!!!!! The installer went so fast I thought it errored out. Binary patches are very small and fast. Technical Support: very fast and very competent. SetupBuilder 5 is a state-of-the-art installation product.

Andrew

[Unregistered]

We moved from Wise 9 to SetupBuilder 5 because of problems, problems, problems with Altiris.

Seems like same old story, huh? One company buys another, then kills their products or othewise ruins them, doesn't support them, etc.

I used to love the Stingray products. Then Rogue Wave bought them. They were just buying the revenue to get the stock price up. They didn't do anything with the product line. In fact, most of those guys went on to form Syncfusion (whose products don't seem as good as the old Stingray products, but guess that's another story...).

[LSConsulting]

Seems like same old story, huh? One company buys another, then kills their products or othewise ruins them, doesn't support them, etc.

I used to love the Stingray products. Then Rogue Wave bought them. They were just buying the revenue to get the stock price up. They didn't do anything with the product line. In fact, most of those guys went on to form Syncfusion (whose products don't seem as good as the old Stingray products, but guess that's another story...).

I absolutely agree. Macrovision bought InstallShield. A worse product just got even worst. Altiris bought Wise. The quality of a good product got worse and worse. Then Macrovision bought Zero G. Some good product disappeared, other good products still exist but technical support and license policy is a nightmare.

I discussed this situation with a (former) InstallShield employee. He told me that InstallShield tried to take over the SetupBuilder product line, but that Friedrich Linder (the owner of Lindersoft, Inc.) did not sell his company.

Result: a good product just got even better. Amazing...

Andrew McKay

[LSConsulting]

By the way, Lindersoft technical support has always been world class. And I bet that emergency support is even available throughout the holiday season.

Andrew McKay

[linder]

You won your bet, Andrew :)

[Unregistered]

Well, I'll just buy SetupBuilder and use it for a few years until he sells the company to Computer Associates!

[linder]

I discussed this situation with a (former) InstallShield employee. He told me that InstallShield tried to take over the SetupBuilder product line, but that Friedrich Linder (the owner of Lindersoft, Inc.) did not sell his company.

Interesting insider information <g>

[LSConsulting]

Is it true or not <bg>

Andrew

[linder]

I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you ;-)