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 After looking at several other free products in this category, InnoSetup
remains to be my top recommendation. It is not a tool for users looking
for a GUI-based simple setup creator, it is more addressing those
developers that want to have full control over their setup routine and
are not shy of working with a text based configuration file. InnoSetup
was originally released in 1997 and has developed immensely since then.
It surely beats many commercial contenders in this area and has proven
to be very capable and stable. InnoSetup's GUI is basically an
editor/compiler for the configuration file that contains all your
settings for the setup routine you are creating. The text file format is
very similar to that of an INI file and thus less cumbersome to work
with than with an XML file like in Ghost Installer Free. The help file
is excellent and well structured and makes it much easier to learn about
the available settings. The editor supports color coding, making it
more convenient to work with. I don't think I have to list all the
features of a professional setup project but I did not find anything yet
that InnoSetup wouldn't be able to support. Source files, target files,
shortcuts, dialogs, license acceptance, signed uninstaller, custom
forms and much more. I have used it for several projects over the last
years with great success (and no costs). If you like a GUI for this
excellent compiler you can find several third party add-ons for that on
InnoSetup's home page as well.
 NSIS
- If you can live with even less than a script editor but favor much
advanced capabilities over a user interface then the NullSoft Installer
System (NSIS) is the right choice for you. It is the most capable of the
reviewed products here but lacks a user interface completely (not
counting the compiler window). Like you create the HTML code for a
webpage with a separate program and display it in your browser, you need
to create the NSIS script with any editor of your liking and just
compile it in the end with the NSIS compiler. You can find links to
editors (PSPad, Notepad++) and IDE plugins (e.g. for Eclipse) supporting
NSIS scripts with syntax highlighting and other helpers on the NSIS
home page. This is surely targeting professional developers more than
those who seek for a quick and more basic GUI controlled setup builder.
The products in this review are addressing both of these users and it is
a little difficult to pick one top recommendation only. Even though
NSIS is more capable than InnoSetup I chose the latter over NSIS due to
its balance between the included editor GUI and features (learning
curve).
The NSIS shortcut just displays one small window with textual links
in order to get you started with learning about it's endless
capabilities. The small menu window (that is too small to show all text
but not resizable, duh - see screenshot) provides links to the compiler
itself, script examples, to online support sites, documentation and
plugins. The plugins are a real treat and offer many extended
possibilities, e.g. splash fade in/out or custom dialogs. NSIS also
offers the creation of the more modern installer UI's. You are free to
create own icons, banners and backgrounds and put them into your
compilation. The user community is quite large and many resources and
forums are available to support you with your NSIS setup project.
Creating a setup file is as easy as dragging and dropping your script
file into the compiler window. The window displays all compiler messages
and reports success or errors. The setup files created are small
compared to other setup builders which manifests a very effective
overhead management. There would be much more to say about NSIS but I
leave this up to their well organized homepage. It is the more capable
tool here but addressing professional developers and requiring an
environment of other tools around it to use it effectively.
 Ghost Installer Free
- Similar to InnoSetup, if you want to have major control about your
setup routine and are not afraid of just dealing with an XML
configuration file, then Ghost Installer Free might be a good choice for
you. While the commercial version comes with a GUI (Ghost Installer
Studio), the free version just offers the so-called gEditor to edit the
XML file that the compiler of the setup routine uses. This product
requires a high learning curve but once you get a hang of it and know
about all the settings you can use you have a mighty powerful tool here.
The help file is pretty good as well and lists all keywords and
settings you can use. When you start a new project a wizard will create a
basic or advanced template that you can start to work with and that
provides the appropriate XML tag structure for you. I found this tool a
little tougher to learn compared to InnoSetup but I am sure it is as
powerful as my top pick. In the end gEditor is just an XML editor with a
build button to compile what you have created. If you find this
appealing you should surely give it a try.
 CreateInstall Free
is a treat for those who do not want to spend much time on
sophisticated setup routines and text based editing. Very similar to
Clickteam Install Creator it presents itself in a simple and effective
interface where you can quickly find and configure all important
features of your setup project. You can pick a custom bitmap and icon
for the setup dialog and also specify whether you want to display a
fullscreen gradient background. You can configure six dialogs for the
setup and also define a run-after program. The files and shortcut
configuration is easy enough as well and as an advantage over Install
Creator (see below) you can also specify registry entries to be made and
DLL/OCX/TBL files to register. Some advanced features are also
available of which the macros make a good impression. With them you can
alter certain features of your setup like redefining languages or setup
path settings. I found some issues when changing the font for the
dialogs. For some fonts, e.g. Tahoma, I had no display at (empty
dialog). The freeware version is fully functional but displays the
string "CreateInstall Free" in the lower left corner of each dialog. You
can register (buy) the software and change that string to your liking
then.
 Clickteam Install Creator
is probably the fastest and most convenient setup builder from the ones
I reviewed. It has a basic yet very effective GUI and the wizard takes
you through the major steps quickly. My first project was done in
minutes and it worked like breeze. When the wizard finishes you still
have all the options you picked available for change through the tabbed
program interface. In case you want to distribute several executables
you have to add the start menu and desktop shortcuts anyways because the
wizard can only create one. But this task is as easy as selecting the
file on the left and enter the shortcut info on the right. I
specifically like the option to easily change all texts of the setup,
even the one in the Welcome dialog. The setup window itself can be set
to dialog or full-screen mode (a gradient background fill like in the
old Windows days) and bitmaps and icons are freely selectable. Install
Creator is missing more professional features like adding registry
entries, different setup packages or languages. But that was not the
goal of this software and it perfectly balances simplicity and
necessity. It is a great choice for quickly distributing files if you do
not want to run through a high learning curve for setup building. The
freeware version is fully functional, however, each setup you create
shows an advertising dialog at the end with a link to the developers
website.
 Advanced Installer
is a good choice when you want to create a quick MSI based setup
package. Caphyon offers this freeware version of its setup builder
embedded in the commercial product. You can download and install the
full product for free but only the "Basic" setup option works without
purchase registration. But that's quite enough for a quick and simple
MSI setup. With the user-friendly wizard you have entered all the basic
configuration in no time. Via the nice GUI you can then tweak and fine
tune your package and publish it as an MSI file. There are quite a few
setup options that you can play with, e.g. target folders and shortcuts,
reboot behaviour, launch conditions, registry settings and more. My
only disappointment was that you can't define different setup types like
"Full Install" and "Minimum Install". All or nothing is all the Basic
setup allows. I'd rather have a less featured launch condition dialog
but a setup type option instead. However, I was very fond of the ease of
use and the minimum amount of time it took me to create a setup. If you
need an MSI file for a simple setup then Advanced Installer will surely
make you happy.
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