InstallShield: Compare Versions

Compare your current product version with InstallShield. Our new functionality supports the latest technologies to help you author reliable installations in less time.

Product Compatibility

InstallShield projects are backward compatible with their respective, InstallShield 2011, InstallShield 2010, InstallShield 2009, InstallShield 2008, InstallShield 12, InstallShield 11.5, InstallShield 11, InstallShield 10.5, InstallShield X, DevStudio, Developer, Professional, and Express products.

End of Life Policy

Learn about flexera's End of Life Policy for older products: InstallShield Legacy products

New and Enhanced in InstallShield 2012	Premier	Professional	Express
Suite Installs With the new InstallShield Suite Project type, multiple products can be easily bundled together into a single, unified suite installation. More »
Installation Streaming Installation Streaming reduces the downloading wait time required before installation can begin. More »
InstallShield Collaboration The InstallShield 2012 Collaboration add-on has been significantly enhanced to better support distributed, collaborative installation development More »
Enhanced 64-Bit Application Support New functionality gives developers more power to deploy applications on 64-bit systems. More »
Application Tagging InstallShield 2012 is the only strategic installation development solution that creates ISO 19770-2 software identification tags as part of the installation development process. More »
Monitoring for COM Extraction InstallShield 2012 supports a new monitoring method for COM extraction. The method uses a kernel driver to monitor the areas of the registry that are modified during dynamic COM extraction at build time and static COM extraction at design time. It combines the advantages that the earlier methods provided, allowing the DLL to read existing registries entries and preventing changes to the build machine.
Merge Module Projects Merge Module Projects now include built-In support for IIS, text file changes, and XML file changes. This property corresponds with the Required Execution Level setting on the Setup.exe tab for a release in the Releases view. This property is available for Basic MSI, InstallScript, and InstallScript MSI projects.
Read-write property RequiredExecutionLevel The read-write property RequiredExecutionLevel has been added to the ISWiRelease object. The method uses a kernel driver to monitor the areas of the registry that are modified during dynamic COM extraction at build time and static COM extraction at design time. It combines the advantages that the earlier methods provided, allowing the DLL to read existing registries entries and preventing changes to the build machine.
Support for new Technologies InstallShield 2012 includes enhanced support new technologies. More »
Standalone Build Add-On InstallShield provides a Standalone Build add-on that enables installation developers to maintain a clean build system by using the part of InstallShield that builds the installations, plus any redistributables included in the installations More »	5 Free Licenses	1 Free License
New and Enhanced in InstallShield 2011	Premier	Professional	Express
.NET Framework 4.0 and Other Prerequisites Have installers check for and install required applications and system components during install time. More »
Integration with Microsoft Team Foundation Server Use the Visual Studio IDE to effectively manage, compile, and build Visual Studio and InstallShield projects in a single environment. More »
Enhanced 64-Bit Application Support New functionality gives developers more power to deploy applications on 64-bit systems. More »
Unicode InstallScript Support Build InstallScript installations that support multiple languages in runtime strings, registry entries, dialog boxes, and more. More »
Enhanced Script Editor New auto-completion functionality increases developer efficiency by reducing the time spent on typing code and helps eliminate typographical code errors.
Build Events InstallShield eliminates the need for you to manage external script files by integrating new pre- and post-build events with the InstallShield build process.
New Predefined System Searches New searches for .NET Framework 4.0, SQL Server 2008 Express SP1, and Adobe Reader 9 check if the required component is installed on the target system and take appropriate action
Specify Custom Icon and Version Resource Properties Modify the icon and version resource properties to match your company and product branding. More »			partial
Specify Folders for InstallShield Prerequisite Searches This enhancement makes it easy for your development team to share prerequisites and store them in source code control. More »
Expiring Setup Launchers Prevent your end users from installing outdated versions of applications. More »
Standalone Build Licensing Changes Standalone Build licenses come with InstallShield Premier and Professional Editions, and more are available for purchase More »	5 Free Licenses	1 Free License
New and Enhanced in InstallShield 2010
Microsoft App-V Support Deploy your applications as App-V virtual packages that run without conflict. More »	with Virtualization pack	with Virtualization pack
Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and MSI 5 Support Get a head start on supporting Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and build setups that leverage the new features of Windows Installer 5 More »
Stay Current with the Latest Microsoft Technologies InstallShield 2010 enables you to run SQL scripts on SQL Server SP1 (available in InstallShield Premier and Professional Editions only), and includes support for SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 SP1 for mobile device installations.			Limited
Improved, Time-Saving IDE New flattened architecture and dynamic search tools will save you tons of time. More »			Limited
String Editor View Control the localizable text strings displayed at run time with this spreadsheet-like table. More »
Text File Changes View This new view lets you configure search-and-replace behavior for content in text files (such as .txt, .htm, .xml, .config, .ini, and .sql files) that you want to modify at run time on the target system. The text files can be part of your installation, or they can be files that are already present on target systems.
IIS Tools for Web Apps New IIS scanner and improved view make it easy to create IIS Web sites, applications, and virtual directories. More »		Limited	Limited
InstallScript Prerequisites InstallShield 2010 now enables you to add InstallShield prerequisites to your InstallScript projects. InstallShield prerequisites are redistributables that usually install a product or technology framework required by your application. If you work on a mix of different project types, InstallShield 2010 lets you simplify your testing matrix by enabling you to reuse this type of redistributable in all of your Basic MSI, InstallScript, and InstallScript MSI projects.
Virtual Machine Detection Virtual machines have been a licensing and compliance challenge for software vendors. If you don’t want your products to run on virtual machines, InstallShield 2010 has the answer. It can now build installations that detect when they are being run on virtual machines like Microsoft Hyper-V and Virtual PC or VMware and optionally block the installation.
Setting Permissions Overcome MSI LockPermissions limitations such as adding permissions without overwriting existing ones. More »
Unicode Support InstallShield 2010 takes a three-pronged approach to fully supporting modern multi-language installations: Windows Installer databases can now be built in a Unicode format, InstallShield projects are now stored in a Unicode format, and the InstallShield interface now supports entering and viewing Unicode characters from multiple character sets at the same time.
Support for 64-Bit COM Extraction InstallShield 2010 now supports 64-bit COM extraction. If you are using InstallShield on a 64-bit system, it can extract COM data from a 64-bit COM server. In order to install the data to the correct locations, the component must be marked as 64 bit.
New InstallShield Prerequisites InstallShield includes a number of new InstallShield prerequisites that you can add to your projects including: Windows Installer 4.5 (with Microsoft fix), 3.1, 3.0, and 2.0 .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 and 2.0 SP2 Internet Explorer 8 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 SP1 and 2005 Express SP3 Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Oracle 11g Instant Client 11.1.0.7 Crystal Reports Basic for Visual Studio 2008
Billboard Support for Custom Branding Display Adobe Flash billboards and other graphic files during the install process. more»			Limited
Support for HTML Controls on InstallScript Dialogs InstallShield 2010 includes support for HTML controls on dialogs in InstallScript and InstallScript MSI projects more»
Displaying Installation Progress on the Taskbar Installations that are run on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 now show a progress bar on the Windows taskbar during file transfer.
New and Enhanced in InstallShield 2009
Associate Prerequisites with Features Associate setup prerequisites with features to chain multiple MSIs together in a single installation. More »
Windows Installer Installation Chaining Associate setup prerequisites with features to chain multiple MSIs together in a single installation. more»
Improved Billboards InstallShield includes several new billboard-related features that give you more flexibility and control over the look and feel of the file transfer portion of your installation. More »
Windows Installer 4.5 Support Create MSIs that leverage the functionality of Windows Installer 4.5.
Visual Studio 2008 Support InstallShield is integrated with Visual Studio 2008, so you can develop your installations within the same Visual Studio interface as your products. more»
.NET Framework 3.5 Support Create setups that allow the installation of Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5. more»
Managed-Code Custom Action Support InstallShield 2009 lets you easily add managed-code custom actions to Basic MSI, InstallScript MSI, and Merge Module projects. more»
Installing Multiple Product Instances Give your MSIs the ability to install multiple instances of the same product on the same machine. more»
Hebrew and Arabic Language Support Expand the global reach of your products by presenting installation text and buttons in Hebrew and Arabic, which are read from right to left. more»
Four InstallShield MSI Tools Four new InstallShield MSI tools save you time and effort by providing a rich UI for common troubleshooting tasks. more»
Value-Added Services Generate new revenue streams with Value-Added Services, such as the opportunity to include an optional search engine toolbar with installations. more»
New and Enhanced in InstallShield 2008
InstallShield Best Practices Validation Suite Avoid common installation issues by getting alerts from validators in this suite, if your installation violates best-practices guidelines. more»
Automation Interface Improvements Use script to add new files, add or delete features, initiate the build process, and change product name and upgrade code, release settings, summary information stream items, release flags, and more. more»
Setup Prerequisite Improvements You have more options to specify exactly under what conditions a setup prerequisite should be installed in specific operating system versions. more»
XML Support Save time by quickly testing XML configuration changes to installation projects. more»
Require EULA Reading "Force" users to scroll to the end of EULA before installation can proceed. more»
Faster Performance, Enhanced Ability to Handle a Large Number of Files Noticeable performance improvements when working with large numbers of files, in the Direct Editor, or with String Tables.
End-User Dialog Themes for Basic MSI Projects Refreshed dialog designs for Basic MSI give you fresh choices for the look-and-feel of your installation's user interface, improving the end-user experience. Includes 10 for Premier and 5 for Professional. more»		Limited	Basic
Enhanced Windows Vista Support Robust support for Windows Vista and related technologies such as UAC, Restart Manager, and much more; also get support for Windows Vista in InstallScript and One-Click Install projects. more»			Limited
IDE View Structure Easily find and change settings in the Releases view, now reorganized from single grid to tabbed grid view by category. more»			Limited
32- and 64-Bit .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5 Support Get support for all 32- and 64-bit versions of .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0 and .NET 3.5 in both Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI. more»			Limited
Latest Windows Mobile Platform Support Get support for the latest Windows Mobile platforms (including Windows Embedded CE 6.x). more»
Updated Direct X 9.0 Object Support You can now use the Windows Installer-based object for Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI projects in compressed and silent installations. more»			Limited
Support for UAC InstallShield lets you create installations that handle UAC authorization requests in a user-friendly manner, requesting elevated privileges required for all installations just once, and using those privileges throughout the installation. more»
Support for Digital Signatures Save time by digitally signing all your files at build time. more»
Usability Improvements to the IDE Easily view additional information and have better control over the IDE with customizable views. more»
SaaS Support (IIS 7 and SSL Technologies) Easily deploy Windows-based Web applications with improved support for SQL and Web-based technologies such as IIS 7 and SSL. more»			Limited
Windows Server 2008 Support Specifically target your installations for Windows Server 2008. more»
New and Enhanced in InstallShield 12
InstallScript Engine Overhaul InstallShield comes with a major InstallScript engine overhaul for increased reliability. more»
Certified for Windows Vista Validation Suite Validate both full projects and merge modules; ensure that your installation meets "Certified for Windows Vista" program guidelines. more»
DIFx 2.1 Support (Basic MSI, InstallScript MSI, and InstallScript) InstallShield includes support for the 2.1 version of Driver Install Frameworks for Applications (DIFx). more»
.NET Compact Framework 2.0 & Other Mobile Device Redistributable The .NET Compact Framework 2.0, as well as several other redistributables, is available for mobile device installations.
InstallShield Repackager With this Premier-only feature you can easily create Windows Installer setups from any legacy installation, without starting from scratch. more»
InstallShield Collaboration Module With this plug-in for Visual Studio, application and installation developers can collaborate throughout the development process. InstallShield Premier Edition allows up to 5 developers to collaborate with their setup author. Licenses for additional developers can be bought separately. more»