popular and easy to use installation software recommendation

Question

i don't know if it is appropriate to ask here, but do you have any recommendation for installation software that is easy to learn and use, yet powerful.

so far, i have only tried the build-in installation that come with VS2008, do you have any recommendation?

Answer 1

There's the Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (which is open source and used by Google, Mozilla, and Intel among others) it has a Python plugin for maximum scripting goodness. And an Eclipse plugin (though that might not be of interest if you're a Visual Studio user).

Inno Setup is free, and scriptable, but not open source.

Both are powerful, and each is pretty easy to do simple things. Both are also in pretty wide use so there's quite a bit out there in the way of how-tos. NSIS even has wizards/editors available

Answer 2

You might look at InstallJammer, totally free and open-source :

InstallJammer features a very powerful install builder with support for multiple themes and a high level of configurability for installers. Installers are built as single executable files for easy distribution over the web and handle installing everything you need for your application in a simple, cross-platform way.