What's New in Windows Installer 5.0

Windows Installer

What's New in Windows Installer 5.0

The information in this topic identifies the additions and changes that are available in Windows Installer 5.0.

Windows Installer 5.0 is available for Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. For a complete list of all Windows Installer versions and redistributables, see Released Versions of Windows Installer.

This page is provided as a guide to the documentation. You should refer to the Requirements section on the main reference pages to determine the actual operating system requirements. Parts of the Windows Installer that are not linked to from this page may be available in another version of the Windows Installer. For information about other Windows Installer versions, see What's New in Windows Installer.

Standard Actions

Installer Functions

Column Data Types

Properties

Database Tables

ControlEvents

Controls

Internal Consistency Evaluators - ICEs

Automation Interface

Notes

Setup developers can use Windows Installer 5.0 to author a single installation package capable of either per-machine installation or per-user installation of the application. For more information, see Single Package Authoring. The internal consistency evaluator ICE105 checks that the package has been authored to be installed in a per-user context. An application capable of being installed, updated, run, and removed by a standard user without elevation is called a Per-User Application (PUA.) A PUA can provide a better user experience, minimize effects on the system and other users of the computer, and reserves UAC prompting to situations that actually require the elevation of the user's privileges. The Single Package Authoring features of Windows Installer 5.0 can facilitate the development of Per-User Applications.

Services configuration options enable a Windows Installer package to customize the services on a computer. For more information, see Using Services Configuration.

Beginning with Windows Installer 5.0, a Windows Installer package is capable to secure new accounts, Windows Services, files, folders, and registry keys. The MsiLockPermissionsEx table can specify a security descriptor that denies permissions, specifies inheritance of permissions from a parent resource, or specifies the permissions of a new account. For information, see Securing Resources.

Windows Installer 5.0 can enumerate all components installed on the computer and obtain the key path for the component. For more information, see Enumerating Components.

Build date: 8/13/2009

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