New Installer Supports Security Push

Windows Installer 3.0 will be the leading edge of Microsoft’s most recent push to improve the reliability and security of its products. First released with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), the updated software installation engine will help simplify the task of keeping software installed with it up-to-date, which is critical to keeping systems working and secured against attack. However, customers will not see benefits from the latest Installer until it is adopted by application developers, including Microsoft, and those developers will have to weigh the Windows Installer against a new “ClickOnce” installation technology currently under development.

Windows Installer 3.0 is the latest version of a Windows OS feature for installing, uninstalling, and repairing applications. Application developers use Windows Installer APIs and utilities to create installation packages for their applications. While developers can and do write such packages from scratch, the Windows Installer takes care of many complicated installation tasks and handles many errors that can arise when installing applications on Windows. (See the sidebar “Windows Installer Capabilities“.) Note that the Windows Installer does not install Windows itself: the OS has its own installation technologies (also used by some server products), including the WinPE boot environment and a patching utility known only by the filename Update.exe.