InstallAware 6.5: Enhanced Features

[CandiceJones]

Authenticode Signatures: The IDE can now pass passwords to the authenticode code signing tool as part of the build process. The password is stored as part of your project file and is not encrypted.

To specify a password for authenticode code signing, click Project | Options on the IDE menu, choose the Authenticode node, and type in your password.

Group Policy Wizard: The Group Policy Wizard no longer requires you to specify "/s" as a command line parameter. Silent or non-silent installations are now managed automatically by the single-file MSI that the wizard creates.

Additionally, the single-file MSI may be used to launch setup in interactive mode, on an end-user's desktop.

Automatic Vista Certification: While InstallAware setups have complied with Vista Certified logo requirements, some of our customers have had to obtain exceptions from Veritest to complete their certification process. We have communicated these issues to Microsoft, who are revising their test cases, and have re-confirmed that our installs are logo-compliant. However, this has resulted in unnecessary delays for our customers affected by the malformed test cases.

We have also gone the extra mile and have updated InstallAware to work around the limitations in Veritest's test cases, without waiting for Microsoft to finish their test case revisions.

When submitting applications to Veritest, make sure to use the uncompressed or single file build mode. Web builds locally cache installer sources which may cause you to fail "rollback" testing (even when the actual rollback of your setup succeeds, Veritest may not recognize this and require you to request an exception).

Disregard Obsolete Translations: As you make changes to your MSIcode script, your translations begin to fall out of scope, and can cause your setup to function incorrectly at runtime as obsolete translations are applied based on language selections. How translations are applied can now be controlled.

Setting the new pre-defined compiler variable LOCMODE to NEWONLY will make sure that only current translations are applied at runtime. Translations which have fallen out of scope will no longer have any effect at runtime.

Native Vista Controls: On Windows Vista, the installer now uses Vista style painting for dialog objects, such as directory browsers with the new arrows instead of plus/minus signs.

The InstallAware IDE has also been updated to use Vista style painting.