Developer(s) Flexera Software Type Setup Creator | Operating system License Shareware | |
Original author(s) Stable release 2014 / May 15, 2014; 2 years ago (2014-05-15) | ||
InstallShield is a proprietary software tool for creating installers or software packages. InstallShield is primarily used for installing software for Microsoft Windows desktop and server platforms, but it can also be used to manage software applications and packages on a variety of handheld and mobile devices.
Contents
Features
InstallShield generates a .msi file which can be used on the destination computer in order to install the payloads from the source computer where it was created. It is possible to specify questions, set prerequisites and registry settings that the user will be able to choose at the installation time.
Development
InstallShield was developed by The Stirling Group, a company founded in 1987 by Viresh Bhatia and Rick Harold, who had first met when they were computer science students at Northwestern University. Their first office was a small room in the basement of an old library building in Roselle, Illinois. They were to market a geographic mapping software, but it was never released. By 1990 the company was selling a package of six products called the Shield Series. In that year the company released the InstallShield product to developers.
In 1993 they moved into larger offices in Schaumburg, Illinois, and changed the company name to Stirling Technologies, Inc.. The product became particularly well known after Microsoft endorsed it for use in Windows 95, and by 1997 the company estimated that it was being used in 85 to 90 percent of all software products written for Windows. Since 1996, the company operated under the InstallShield name until Macrovision acquired the business in 2004 for $76 million in cash plus a potential additional $20 million based on sales targets.
Limited feature releases of InstallShield were bundled with popular software development packages such as Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 (InstallShield Professional 5.0), Borland Delphi 2.0–2006 (InstallShield Express 1–4) and Borland C++Builder 1–6 (InstallShield Express 1–3.5).
On April 1, 2008, the Macrovision Software Business Unit (including the InstallShield brand) was sold to private equity firm Thoma Cressey Bravo, forming a new company: Acresso Software Corporation. In October 2009, Acresso changed its name to Flexera Software.