Discover Inno Setup: A Powerful Installer for Windows Programs
Inno Setup is a highly regarded, complimentary installer for Windows applications. First launched in 1997, it has evolved to compete effectively with numerous commercial alternatives, offering a robust feature set and remarkable stability.
Notable Features of Inno Setup
- Wide OS Compatibility: Supports all Windows versions from 2006 onwards, including Windows 11, Windows 10 (including ARM), Windows Server versions from 2016 through 2019, and older releases like Windows Vista, among others, with no mandatory service packs.
- Support for 64-bit Applications: Facilitates the installation of 64-bit software on corresponding versions of Windows, covering x64, ARM64, and Itanium architectures.
- Flexible Installation Options: Accommodates both administrative and standard installations, catering to various user needs.
- Single EXE Installer: Simplifies online distribution by creating a unified EXE file for program installation, with support for disk spanning.
- User-Friendly Interface: Features a standard Windows wizard interface for intuitive user experience.
- Customizable Setup Types: Offers users choices between Full, Minimal, or Custom installation options.
- Comprehensive Uninstall Capabilities: Ensures complete removal of installed programs.
- File Management Features: Includes integrated support for various compression formats like “deflate, ”bzip2, and 7-Zip LZMA/LZMA2, alongside advanced file management options such as version comparison, file replacement, shared file counting, DLL registration, and font installations.
- Shortcut Creation: Allows for shortcuts to be created in multiple locations, including the Start Menu and desktop.
- Registry and INI Entries: Facilitates the creation of necessary registry and INI entries for better program functionality.
- Multi-Language Support: Offers capabilities for multilingual installations, including support for right-to-left languages.
- Security Features: Supports password-protected installations and encrypted setups, alongside digitally signed installs and uninstalls (supporting dual signatures with SHA1 & SHA256).
- Silent Installation: Enables silent installs and uninstalls for user convenience.
- Unicode Support: Ensures compatibility with various languages through Unicode installation.
- Advanced Customization Options: Features an integrated preprocessor for enhanced compile-time customization and a Pascal scripting engine for runtime customizations.
- Accessible Source Code: The complete source code is available on GitHub.
- Comprehensive Documentation: All functionalities are fully documented.
- Widely Utilized: Used by popular platforms such as Microsoft Visual Studio Code and Embarcadero Delphi.
What’s New in Inno Setup 6.5.2?
- Enhanced PNG Support: Now includes transparent wizard images and icons.
- Increased Executable Size Limit: Setup.exe size limit has been removed (up to ~4 GB; disk slices are now virtually unlimited).
- Advanced Download Capabilities: Features TLS 1.3 downloads and RAR5 archive extraction.
- Improved Pascal Scripting: Adds TPngImage, HighContrastActive, and LogFmt functions.
- Updated Compiler IDE: Introduces auto-reload/undo features and a dark mode for better usability.
- General Fixes and UI Enhancements: Includes various minor fixes and user interface refinements.[full release notes]
Commercial Use and Licensing Information
If you are considering using Inno Setup for commercial purposes, we encourage you to purchase a license.
Download and Resources
You can download Inno Setup 6.5.2 here: Inno Setup 6.5.2 | Size: 7.4 MB (Freeware)
For more information, visit the Inno Setup Website or check out the screenshot.
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