SetupBuilder Developer Edition lets you create special purpose installations such as Web installations and Web updates. These features provide developers the ability to deliver applications quickly and securely over the Internet and to configure those applications to update themselves automatically. iDeploy is a significant advance in Web-based deployment of applications.
iDeploy Web Update
Think Ahead! Adding Web Update to your SetupBuilder projects now means easy, targeted, automatic product updates in the future. Automatic self-updating is a must-have feature demanded by end-users of today's newest software. To remain competitive, commercial software packages need built-in software updating to deliver critical bug fixes and feature enhancements before customers request an update.
iDeploy Web Update is a comprehensive live updating solution that automatically manages the downloading and installation of the latest version of an application, eliminating the need for software producers to contact end-users whenever there is an update, patch or new release. Web Update allows you to synchronize files rather than updating the entire application every time there is an update.
iDeploy Web Update streamlines the updating and software redeployment process, setting up a single updating solution that is available at anytime, for virtually any number of customers. It is an extremely flexible system that saves software producers considerable time and expense, while making the routine updating of software by end users so easy that it is almost foolproof.
Web Update's "check for update" functionality synchronizes files between the update server and the clients, delivers and runs external installers, and performs custom tasks. Using Web Update decreases your support costs by automating the deployment of service level and security patches and ensuring that your software is up to date on every system.
By incorporating iDeploy Web Update into your software product, you will speed time to market for new versions of your software. iDeploy Web Update reduces workload for corporate information technology professionals and technical support centers, ensuring up-to-date software for your customers and users around the world. You won't need to send out emails for each bug fix to your registered end-users, if they even bothered to register.
Instead, end-users will receive their software updates immediately, just as you make them available, resulting in reduced time and expense for product distribution, fewer customer support calls and emails, and streamlined customer communication about new versions.
Today, the majority of technical support questions are answered with "you need an update," but with iDeploy Web Update, these issues become a thing of the past. Think of the time and money you would save if you could eliminate even a fraction of your tech support calls by using iDeploy Web Update to keep your application current.
By automating the updating process, you will spend less time managing the release of product updates, patches, and fixes, and more time developing great software. Software that updates itself increases end-user satisfaction, guaranteeing that your software will work the way that it was designed.
Most people think that updating is as simple as downloading a patch and installing it onto the target machine. Actually, making your software self-updating is a complex task, involving software integration issues, user interface design, error handling, security considerations, and much, much more.
Designing and implementing a software updating solution is an expensive proposition, and would take many people-years to implement an in-house solution with all of the power, flexibility, and quality of iDeploy Web Update.
The Web Update client can be integrated into your application as a menu item, invoked from a Windows shortcut, or started automatically with your application. Updates can be delivered using a full Wizard-based GUI, or performed silently and automatically, with no end-user feedback.
We have already done all the hard work for you. With iDeploy Web Update, you can add complete software updating and management to your applications in minutes, eliminating the time and cost to develop your own updating solution.
iDeploy Web Installation
A Web Installation package is an installer that takes advantage of the web to distribute files. Before the advent of web installers, users downloaded the entire setup executable and ran that installer. But end users frequently do not need all the files contained in an installer. The iDeploy Web Installation technology simplifies the user experience by first downloading a small "smart" installer which can retrieve just the pieces needed for the user's specific requirements. The web installer will also detect which files you need to have updated and only download those that are out-of-date. Because a web installation downloads only the pieces they need, you shorten their download time, and reduce your web server load at the same time. You can also easily distribute any of these "smart" installers via email.