WiX

WiX v3.7 Release Candidate available.

Today we released WiX v3.7 RC. When I introduced WiX v3.7 I noted that WiX v3.7 would be a short release. If you have not pulled down a WiX v3.7 drop, I highly recommend it to let us know if there are any showstoppers. At this point in time I expect the release to wrap up before the end of the year. Wondering what is in this shortest release in the WiX toolset's history?

There are four key features in WiX v3.7:

  1. New Build System - building the WiX Toolset itself is much easier now that we’ve completely standardized on MSBuild. There is still work that can be done in future releases but the new systems is very nice.
  2. Bundle Self-Update - downloading and launching a newer version of the current Bundle is much easier and smoother. The WiX toolset uses this functionality so you can see it in action when “Upgrade Available” is displayed.
  3. Bundle Reference Counting - creating a redistributable Bundles that can be correctly reference counted is much easier now. There aren’t many people that need this functionality but the people that do usually ship lots of software so it’s exciting to get this feature working.
  4. Bugs - a bunch of bugs known or found after WiX v3.6 shipped have been fixed. There are still a bunch of bugs that should be fixed but probably won’t make the WiX v3.7 release. Fortunately, there is a WiX v3.8 planned where more bugs will be fixed.

That’s about it. This release has a couple features added to Burn that didn’t make its original debut and some bug fixes. WiX v3.7 is that much better than WiX v3.6. Please open bugs if you find any issues.