| GUI:  Features: Ease of use: Value: |  | Pros:
-> Simple and user friendly interface that is easy to understand and get around
-> Good layout and customizable features
-> Functions are organized and grouped in the program in such a way that it is easy to follow and understand
-> Excellent Interface of the generated installer
-> The installers created run standalone i.e., it does not need a separate engine/framework such as Windows Installer in order to run
-> Abundant setup dialogs
-> Support for customizing setup screens
-> Lot of very useful Pre-defined actions.
-> Easy to learn scripting language. It is so easy that any programming familiarity is sufficient to script very powerful and useful actions.
-> Complexity such as that found in other installers is not present.
-> Countless standard and built-in features
-> Support for instant previewing
-> Support for embedding serial numbers
-> Support for instantly inserting text by using Macros
-> Support for quick navigation in the code window by means of Bookmarks
-> Support for dependency modules
-> Support for Primer files
-> Support for and customization of script files
-> Support for external plugins
-> Support for customization of Add/Remove entries
-> Support for creation and customization of Uninstall file
-> Abundant features
Areas of Enhancement:
None
Details:
I used two programs to create different installers that performed various activities. The evaluation was done on a Windows XP Professional computer with Microsoft .NET 3.0 Framework. The user interface was easy to understand and easy to get around. The sidebar with the buttons enabled me to navigate from one page to another very easily and swiftly. Unlike many applications where the interface is cluttered, the interface in this program is clean. I started by clicking on New Project button to create a project that opened a blank project wizard. This simple wizard accepted key installation parameters/properties and quickly setup basic installer parameters. I filled in all the required parameters and properties and generated setup files. First time I used the wizard and the second time I did not use the wizard. When I did not use the wizard it took me a few minutes to find the place where the product information is set. Since product information is the first thing that is entered it would help if the product information entry (“Session Variables”) screen is the first item in the sidebar. One thing I must say with extreme enthusiasm is that there is no shortage of setup screens to choose from. The setup screens give extremely professional look and feel to the installer.
The setup file that generated using this program is standalone. In other words, it did not require the target computer to have any kind of engine or framework such as Windows Installer. This prevents the hassle of making sure the target computer has some kind of engine in order to run the setup file. Setup Factory features a very good security setting. The user has the option of setting the setup to expire after a certain period of time. Two other features that I thought would be useful to users for large setup files are the capability to span CDs.
The Help enabled me to quickly understand features. The Help file helped me quickly understand some components of the program.
I was able to add all the files that I wished to install on the target computer. The Files page is easy to work with to add files to the installer. One feature that I thought was useful is the option to exclude files from being installed on the target computer. This would allow the user to use the excluded files during the installation process but at the same time not install on the target computer. These are called Primer Files. Another powerful feature is the capability to add and customize dependency modules in the setup file. The setup file features can be enhanced significantly by the Script file and External Plugins. The standard script files that come with the program are very useful. A lot of 3rd party external plugins can be downloaded from the web site.
The built-in dialogs proved very useful to me. They are simple and easy to use. The dialogs can be customized very easily. I did not have to deal with the UI sequence and Execute sequence numbering that is found in other installers. As far as I was concerned the UI and Execute sequencing is very intuitive. The preview feature is also very useful in viewing the dialogs before building the installer.
There are several advanced configurations that can be used to the users advantage. Some of them are: selecting the OS to run on, selecting the user rights/privileges, creating an uninstaller, creating a setup log file, etc.
Several other configurations found are the ability to create shortcuts, capability to define file associations, capability to read from/write to registry, capability to create/edit INI files, capability to set up environment variables, etc.
A powerful and striking feature that is unique to this program is the pre-defined actions. A lot of common actions required to be performed by the installers are provided by the program. The user only has to pick the action and he is done. I found this feature to be very powerful and easy to use. Additionally, custom actions can also be used to complement the built-in actions.
Another powerful feature that would make the creation of the setup is Macros. Repetitive tasks can be recorded as macros and can be reused when such tasks are to be inserted in the setup file. For instance, if the user typed a few lines of code that he intends to reuse then that can be recorded as a macro so that the next time the code will not have to be retyped.
There are an abundance of features such as setting expiration on the setup file, compressing setup file, capability to configure a lot of launch conditions, capability to add serial numbers to the installer, capability to add pre-defined operations, etc.
Wrap Up:
There are several Install creators in the market today that promise to do a lot of things. In my opinion a majority of them do not deliver that promise and are underperforming while the rest deliver that promise at the expense of simplicity and price and are overkill. More often than not it takes a lot of time to create and maintain installers with those install creators. Setup Factory by IndigoRose strikes the right balance of simplicity, richness and price and gives the user an opportunity to create professional installers. Overall I give this program big thumbs up and highly recommend it.
I feel that there are several unique and striking features in Setup Factory that make it a worthy contender to be the best among the install creators in the market today.
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| GUI:  Features: Ease of use: Value: | | Avoid this product like the plague!
I had been a long time user but....
1) The product refuses to run if you have CompuWare's SoftICE installed on your system. Since both of these are developer tools, this is totally unacceptable!
2) If you browse their user forums you will not find a single comment about problems or issues. They CENSOR all postings and only leave the ones that are positive.
3) This company does NOT believe in compatibility from old to new versions. I used Setup Factory 5.0. I later purchased an "upgrade" to V7.0. There is NO compatibility and the "tool" they supply to convert (from 5.0 to 6.0 and then from 6.0 to 7.0) does not convert anything but the simplest parameters.
My advice is to avoid this company and this product! |
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