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InstallShield 2014 Supports Diverse Software Installations

By Michael Leo, Director, Enterprise& Contact Center Solutions Marketing, Acme Packet

Not too long ago, people generally had a desktop or a laptop, and installing software on these devices was not that complicated. However, today applications can be installed on smartphones, tablets, cloud and virtualized instances as well as high-DPI displays, touch devices and agile development. Without the right application usage management (AUM) solution things can get complicated for regular users, which can result in the wrong instance of the application being installed on the device.

The InstallShield AUM by Flexera Software has been providing individual and businesses an application to simplify the deployment of software on more than 500 million PCs and servers around the world. The company announced it has launched the 2014 InstallShield with improvements designed to address many of today's different software and hardware platforms.

According to the company, the new version gives software developers improved support for allowing their customers to simplify the deployment process of their applications. The applications can be deployed in web/server applications to cloud, web, virtual, and traditional environments seamlessly. This includes support for Microsoft (News - Alert) Web Deploy, user optimization experience through DPI-aware installations and developer productivity improvement with automatic provisioning of virtual machines for testing installations.

The IstallShield Suite/Advanced UI installations supports developing upgrades, allowing end-users to select the best upgrade options by selecting the multiple instances on target systems. Because developers release so many version and many instances can be on the same system or server, it is important to install the right applications. The 2014 version can automatically check online for the latest setup whenever an installation is running, giving developers more access to their customers.

Developers can also improve productivity by provisioning virtual machines from the InstallShield IDE for testing installations to cut down on test times and get rid of manual steps. The platform supports VMware vSphere, VMware Workstation, and Microsoft Hyper-V to test image snapshots, power on virtual machines, and stage setups directly from the InstallShield IDE. This gives developers the flexibility to continuously advance their application and release the best and most secure version in the market place.

"InstallShield supports and enables the latest trends in desktop computing, like high DPI displays and touch interaction, as well as complex web/server application installations to the datacenter and cloud. We are relentlessly committed to ensuring our customers can provide a seamless installation experience - regardless of the environment in which the software will be deployed and regardless of the type of device on which it will be run," said Maureen Polte, vice president of product management at Flexera Software.