14 DAY TRIAL // Concomitantly with the advent of the next iteration of Windows, the Windows Installer evolved to version 5.0. Available for both the Windows 7 client and for Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Installer 5.0 can already be test driven courtesy of the Beta builds of the Windows client and server operating systems released to the general public in early January 2009. But at the same time, Windows 7 is not limited to MSI 5.0 alone, as the platform also includes functionality specific of the previous version of MSI, namely 4.5.
“Windows Installer version 5.0 is included in Windows 7 Beta. The MSDN documentation section "What's new in Windows Installer 5.0" has been updated accordingly and available for online viewing. In addition, all functionality provided with the MSI 4.5 redistributable release is included on Windows 7,” revealed Zainab Hakim, test engineer for the Windows Installer (MSI) team.
The Windows Installer 4.5 redistributable is currently available for Windows Vista RTM and Service Pack 1, Windows XP SP3 and earlier, Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1, and Windows Server 2003 SP1 and SP2. However, Windows 7 users and developers will also be able to take advantage of features such as Multi-package Transactions, Embedded UI Handlers, Shared Components Robustness, Patch Supersedence Robustness and Uninstall Custom Actions. Still, for a more compete experience, Windows Installer 5.0 is the answer, as it brings to the table a number of features that are not present in MSI 4.5.
“The Windows Installer functions, tables, and properties listed on this page are not supported by Windows Installer 4.5 and earlier versions. The absence of a feature from this list does not guarantee that the feature is supported,” Microsoft informed. “Windows Installer 4.5 does not support some features that enable a single installation package to be installed in either the per-machine or per-user installation context; some services configuration options that can enable a package to customize the services on a computer; some features that enable the Windows Installer to secure new accounts, Windows Services, files, folders, and registry keys; [and] some features that enable the installation to enumerate all components installed on the computer and obtain the key path for the component.”
At the same time Windows Installer 4.5 does not play nice with a range of items present in Windows Installer 5.0 including a few standard actions, installer functions, column data types, properties, database tables, ControlEvents, Controls, Internal Consistency Evaluators – ICEs; and Automation Interface properties.
Microsoft Windows Installer 4.5 is available for download here.
Windows 7 Beta is available for download here.