InstallAware Software Corporation has shipped a free plug-in update pack for InstallAware, allowing ISVs and enterprises to leverage the newest software installation technologies on the Microsoft Windows and .NET software platforms. Windows Installer 4.5 introduces major new features for application deployment, such as chaining multiple setup packages together. Multiple chained packages can be installed in a single, atomic transaction that can be rolled back if an error occurs in any one of the chained packages, or the end-user decides to abort the installation.

    This helps make application installations more robust, especially when most applications today have dependencies on component and technology frameworks. All .NET applications, for instance, require the installation of the Microsoft .NET Framework; which can now be installed together with your applications in a transactional, atomic way.

    InstallAware is the only commercial installation toolkit at this time to expose the new features available in Windows Installer 4.5, ahead of other competitors such as InstallShield. Even without the Windows Installer 4.5 update, developers can already chain multiple packages together using InstallAware's advanced setup bootstrapping capabilities.

    "We have once again demonstrated our commitment to developers by beating all other vendors to providing native Windows Installer 4.5 support," says Sinan Karaca, Founder of InstallAware Software Corporation. "All our current users may immediately download the free plug-in update pack from our website -- without having to pay for or wait an extensive amount of time for a vital update like this."

    InstallAware's advanced bootstrapper captures the actual installation progress of each chained package and displays it natively in your own setup wizard, dramatically improving the end-user experience, and impressing your brand throughout the entire duration of your application's setup -- even during the installation of its pre-requisites, such as the .NET Framework.

    InstallAware's advanced bootstrapper also pre-populates third-party package options as necessary eliminating yet another potential point of failure in your installations, which in turn helps reduce your support and maintenance costs. Instead of requiring end-users to manually populate configuration settings inside separate third-party installation windows. InstallAware the tool of choice for building complex, powerful Windows Installer setups that span multiple setup packages.

    "Microsoft selected InstallAware as a launch partner on their first-ever coupled beta program for Windows Installer," says Panagiotis Kefalidis, Developer Evangelist at InstallAware Software Corporation. "We are proud to be working together with Microsoft in delivering our customer base the latest innovations in technology at breakneck speed."