eli5 what is the base install wizard like, and why do so many apps use install wizards?
In: Technology
>what is the base install wizard like
There isn’t a “base” install wizard. Installers are just programs, and there are lots of different ones. Windows comes with a default installer program Windows Installer (MSI) but not everyone wants to use it for various reasons.
>and why do so many apps use install wizards
Because the process of installing an application on the system can involve a number of different tasks – creating a specific folder structure, downloading or extracting files, setting file permissions, downloading and installing dependencies if required, creating background services/daemons, creating scheduled jobs, adding shortcuts, modifying the registry or file associations, etc. And you want to automate this to make things as easy for the user as possible, so they use your product. Since these are fairly common tasks it makes sense to use an existing product off the shelf specifically designed for this, rather than spend developer time coding a custom installation program from scratch.
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