InstallShield is a proprietary

software tool A programming tool or software development tool is a computer program that software developers use to create, debug, maintain, or otherwise support other programs and applications. The term usually refers to relatively simple programs, that can b ...

for creating

installer Installation (or setup) of a computer program (including device drivers and plugins), is the act of making the program ready for execution. Installation refers to the particular configuration of a software or hardware with a view to making it us ...

s or software packages. InstallShield is primarily used for installing software for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

desktop and server platforms, though it can also be used to manage software applications and packages on a variety of handheld and

mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

Features

InstallShield generates a

.msi Windows Installer (msiexec.exe, previously known as Microsoft Installer, codename Darwin) is a software component and application programming interface (API) of Microsoft Windows used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software. ...

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 originally 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 Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. Their first office was a small room in the basement of an old library building in

Roselle, Illinois Roselle is a suburb of Chicago and is a village located in both DuPage County and Cook in Illinois. Roselle was first incorporated in 1922 as a bedroom community, with its train stop attracting residents commuting to Chicago or nearby suburbs for t ...

. They were to market a geographic mapping software program, but it was never released. By 1990, The Stirling Group was selling a package of six products called the SHIELD Series, including InstallShield: In 1993, The Stirling Group moved into larger offices in

Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg ( ) is a village mostly in Cook County and partly in DuPage County in northeastern Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 78,723. Schaumburg is around northwest of the Chicago Loop and northwest of O'Hare I ...

and changed the company's name to Stirling Technologies, Inc. InstallShield became particularly well known after Microsoft endorsed it for use in

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturin ...

, and by 1997 Stirling Technologies 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 TiVo Corporation, formerly known as the Rovi Corporation and Macrovision Solutions Corporation, was an American technology company. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company is primarily involved in licensing its intellectual property ...

acquired the business in 2004 for $76 million in cash plus an additional $20 million based on meeting sales targets. Limited versions of InstallShield were at various times bundled with popular software development packages such as Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0, Borland Delphi 2006, and

Borland C++Builder C++Builder is a rapid application development (RAD) environment, originally developed by Borland and owned by Embarcadero Technologies (a subsidiary of Idera), for writing programs in the C++ programming language currently targeting Windows (bo ...

. On 1 April 2008, the Macrovision Software Business Unit (including the InstallShield brand) was sold to private equity firm

Thoma Cressey Bravo Thoma Bravo, LP, is an American private equity and growth capital firm with offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Miami. It is known for being particularly active in acquiring software companies and has over $114 billion in assets under managem ...

, forming a new company called

Acresso Software Flexera is an American computer software company based in Itasca, Illinois. History On 1 April 2008, Macrovision sold its software division to the Thoma Bravo investment fund, which became Acresso Software. Macrovision subsequently changed ...

. In October 2009, Acresso Software changed its name to

Flexera Software Flexera is an American computer software company based in Itasca, Illinois. History On 1 April 2008, Macrovision sold its software division to the Thoma Bravo investment fund, which became Acresso Software. Macrovision subsequently changed ...

. In May 2020, Flexera rebranded its software division as Revenera.

References

External links

* {{Official website Installation software Utilities for Windows

Features

Development

See also

References

External links