MSIStudio offers unparalled power at a fraction of the cost of alternative products.
| Product | Avatar Software
MSIStudio 3.0 | Installshield
Premier 11 | Wise Solutions
Wise for Windows Installer 6 | Microsoft
Visual Studio .NET |
| Design Features | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| MSI Debugger |  | | | |
| Patch and update validation | | | | |
| Full control of features | | | | |
| Full control of components | | | | |
| Visual Editors for registry settings and shortcuts | | | | |
| Visual Editors for ODBC drivers and DSNs, INI files, Environment variables | | | | |
| Visual Editor for action sequences and logic | | | | |
| Stand alone IDE | | | | |
| Wizards for common tasks | | | | |
| MSI and Logo validation | | | | |
| Dynamic file linking | | | | |
| Path variables to make projects protable from one machine to another | | | | |
| Visual Studio .NET integration | | | | |
| Pre-install MSI runtime | | | | |
| Support merge module relative sequencing | | | | |
| WYSIWYG support for advanced patching tables | | | | |
| Advanced MSI log file analysis | | | | |
| MSI 3.1 supported & supplied | | | | |
| Allow control through external driver .EXE | | | | |
| Debug standalone MSI files | | | | |
| Import setups created with InstallShield Professional / Wise Installation System | 1 | | | |
| Source Control Integration | | | | |
| Task list | | | | |
| Localized versions of the development environment | | | | |
| Optionally drive installation logic using a script (external UI) | | | | |
| Automation Interface for external project modification | | | | |
| Macro Editor for repetitive tasks | | | | |
| Integrated MSI table editor | | | | |
| Database to store and manage application data | | | | |
| Script-like view and editing of sequences and logic | | | | |
| Interface and Usability | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Dockable workspace windows | | | | |
| User interface themes | | | | |
| Multiple color-coded MSI file comparison | | | | |
| Detailed MSI debug logging including table and property browsing | | | | |
| Integrated Registry browser for drag and drop of key and values | | | | |
| Integrated Explorer for file drag and drop | | | | |
| Modern Whidbey style user interface | | | | |
| Customizable Tools Menu | | | | |
| .NET Support | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Pre-install .NET Framework service packs from Internet | | | | |
| Pre-install .NET Framework service packs | | | | |
| Pre-install .NET Framework from Internet | | | | |
| Pre-install .NET Framework | | | | |
| .NET Assembly Compile on Installation | | | | |
| Control of Local Assembly installation properties | | | | |
| Global Assembly Cache support | | | | |
| COM Interop Support | | | | |
| Import .NET Solution files | | | | |
| Custom Action Support | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Full control of custom action sequencing | | | | |
| VBScript | | | | |
| General DLL, incl. Windows APIs | | | | |
| DLL with MSI specific prototype | | | | |
| EXE | | | | |
| Proprietary scripting language | | | | |
| .NET Installer Class | | | | |
| Runtime Dialogs | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Dialog Editor | | | | |
| Customize Dialog Layout or Add Custom Dialogs | | | | |
| Customize Dialog Text and Bitmaps | | | | |
| Pre-built Runtime Dialogs | | | | |
| Build and Distribution Media | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Create Merge Modules | | | | |
| Self-extracting EXE | | | | |
| Smart Internet Deployment | | | | |
| Command Line Build Tools | | | | |
| CD-ROM | | | | |
| Release Management - build multiple product variations from a single project | | | | |
| Use configurable merge modules | | | | |
| Create Patches | | | | |
| Create Transforms | | | | |
| Create single CAB file per component | | | | |
| Create configurable merge modules | | | | |
| Create "Multiple Instance Transforms" | | | | |
| Create "No-Touch Deployment" packages | | | | |
| Create time limited trial version of your application | | | | |
| Mix compressed and uncompressed files | | | | |
| Automatic update installation | | | | |
| Automatic update notification | | | | |
| Standalone Build module to create media on a clean build system (no additional license required) | | | | |
| Target Platforms | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Windows 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/XP/2003 | | | | |
| Linux and Unix | | | | |
| Advanced MSI Extensions | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Append permissions to object (override MSI Lock Permissions) | | | | |
| Create and modify Microsoft Message Queues (MSMQs) | | | | |
| Set advanced user and group permissions and properties | | | | |
| Create Remote Access Service (RAS) entries | | | | |
| Map network drives | | | | |
| Create and modify user and groups | | | | |
| Technology Support | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Create SQL Server Databases | | | | |
| Import raw MSI files with data files | | | | |
| Export to WiX format | | | | |
| 64-bit application support | | | | |
| Direct support for COM+ | | | | |
| Import C# Projects | 1 | | | |
| Import J# Projects | 1 | | | |
| Visual Editor to Create and Control Services | | | | |
| Includes Merge Modules | | | | |
| Import VB Projects | 1 | | | |
| Add and manage user accounts | | | | |
| Modify XML files during installation | | | | |
| Wizard to download redistributables | | | | |
| Run SQLServer script files | | | | |
| Create MySQL Databases | | | | |
| Device Driver Installation Wizard | | | | |
| Active and Static File Dependency Scanners | | | | |
| Create setups for Web Services and IIS | | | | |
| International Support | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Create One Setup Package with Multiple Languages | | | | |
| Languages included in base package | | | | |
| Supported languages (including language packs) | | | | |
| Hardware Requirements | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| Internet Explorer >v5.5 required | | | | |
| .NET Framework required | | | | |
| Typical RAM usage (single project open) | 15 MB | ~50-100MB | 23 MB | 20 MB |
| Hard disk space requirements | 40 MB | 794 MB | 100 MB | 100 MB |
| Download Size | 16 MB | 502 MB | 63 MB | 17 MB |
| Pricing and Ordering | MSIStudio | IS Premier | WFWI-E | VS .NET |
| List price | $595 | $2,499 | $1,999 | $1,079 |
