Written articles
PacKit, a new home for your software packages
I started working in tech in 2009. My early years were focused on building technology and supporting developers in building installers for their desktop applications.
Trusted Signing Integration: Advanced Installer's Newest Standard
Digital Signing should be a formality for professionals. It’s been almost 30 years since the first software was digitally signed but we still have many users who don’t know how or why they should use a code signing certificate. We need it to protect their intellectual property and enhance the cybersecurity of their end-users.
MSIX Supported Features by OS Version
Building an MSIX package for your app? Use the table below to check what Windows version you can target, depending on the features you are using.
MSIX Predictions for 2022 - What to expect
MSIX has been available for almost four years now, since Microsoft first announced it. Although 2021 did not deliver all of the advances I had hoped for, I was pleased to see MSIX adoption continue to expand on a regular basis.
MSIX Introduction: A comprehensive 24-chapter guide
Get a quick 5,000 words introduction that will bring you up to speed with the latest packaging and deployment technology for Windows.
Managing Non-VFS Files when working with an MSIX-packaged application
Why does my MSIX app fail to find files from the package? The short answer is that this is related to how the files inside the VFS folder are, or are not, virtualized.
False-positive Malware Detection Announcement
On September 21st, 2021, the Morphisec team published an article explaining how a PowerShell script can be used to deploy malware via an MSI installation package.
Enterprise Application Packaging Best Practices and Recommendations
Your application's installer is the very first direct interaction of users with your product. And, a positive first impression is essential for the success of any software.
Smart PSF: Add a Fixup to Your MSIX Application
As software packagers, we know the struggle that comes with new technologies. And there's no need to sugarcoat it -- is downright stressful.
Introduction to Package Support Framework
To help with the MSIX transition, Microsoft has released the Package Support Framework (PSF) - an open-source framework that enables you to apply runtime fixups for issues that might appear when migrating legacy applications that you don’t have the source code for.
MSIX - Biggest Update for Windows Installer
Create a single package for all Windows platforms, the promise of MSIX, Microsoft’s vision for the future of Windows Installer. MSIX is a complete containerization solution which inherits all the great features in UWP and most importantly, it applies to all Win32, WPF, Windows Forms, and UWP applications.
Debug MSIX packaged apps with Advanced Installer
Debug your desktop application inside an MSIX app container using the Visual Studio extension from Advanced Installer Professional edition, or higher.
Antivirus Whitelisting Pains
If you're a software vendor doing multiple releases a year, you're bound to hit (and hate) this problem - false-positive detection by antivirus solutions. It's just one of the neverending problems of ISVs that's eating a chunk of our time, without any ROI.
Monitoring Desktop Installations on Windows
You might think that the users downloading your application also install it. That is not true. If you want to see how many users install your application successfully you need to track the application, in this case its setup package.