Install 1.3 review
DownloadInstall is the new and powerful software deployment solution that puts the robustness and security of Apple's own Installer application in your hands, without the hassle of wrestling with package files and installation scripts.
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Install is the new and powerful software deployment solution that puts the robustness and security of Apple's own Installer application in your hands, without the hassle of wrestling with package files and installation scripts. Its modular design and flexibile configuraton options make it easy to hand-tailor an installer to your exact requirements, and the finished product will immaculately conform to the Human Interface Guidelines that Mac users appreciate and expect.
Here are some key features of "Install":
"Pre-flight", graceful process termination (kill the processes you specify before commencing the installation, but do it gracefully, allowing users to save unsaved changes to disk where appropriate);
Terminate target processes using Apple Events, SIGTERM signals, or SIGHUP signals;
Automated pre-flight removal of files to the Trash (in the case of files which can be moved without administrator privileges); and pre-flight deletion of files (for files which require administrator privileges);
Full configurability through a single XML property list;
Total user interface customization made easy with RTF documents;
Totally modular design allows you to make your installer as simple as you desire, or as complex; you control the number of steps required to complete the install;
Easy-to-use "Read Me" steps, "License" steps, "Domain" steps (allowing the user to choose a local or a system-wide installation);
"Shell" steps allow Install to run shell scripts before, after or during installation, with or without root privileges, thus enabling an unlimited range of tests and complex installation operations;
"Finish" steps which allow the user to launch the installed application or open other documents (such as preferences or any other type of document);
Authentication and authorization when required using Apple's Security frameworks;
Graceful failure handling: if an error occurs during an install, users are provided with clear, easy-to-understand descriptions of what went wrong and how to fix the problem;
Fully localizable;
Saveable, printable log and file windows;
"Uninstall" functionality, "Upgrade" functionality;
"Reveal files on disk" menu command makes it convenient for users who wish to do manual (drag-and-drop) installation of files embedded inside the Install package;
Multi-threaded to ensure interface responsiveness even during long-running installation processes;
Target system version checking (Install itself is designed to run on Mac OS X 10.2 or later);
Written in compact Objective-C, the Install application itself is barely over 200 kilobytes (including English localization resources).
What's New:
If an error occurs while trying to move files to the Trash without administrator privileges Install now shows a dialog allowing the user to enter an administrator password and try again, reveal the files in the Finder for manual deletion, or cancel the operation.
Added missing tilde (~) in the default configuration file which prevented developers from accessing the Install manual when pressing the "Documentation" button after installing for the current user only.
Fixed minor memory leak (less than one kilobyte per run).
Tested and qualified for use with Mac OS X 10.4, 10.4.1, 10.4.2, 10.4.3 Tiger; Install continues to be compatible with Jaguar and Panther also.
Built using Xcode 2.2 as a Universal Binary, which means that Install will run natively on both PowerPC and Intel processors. The PowerPC build now explicitly uses the 10.2 SDK which among other things forces GCC 3.3 to be used as the compiler and ensures that 10.2-compatible code is produced.
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