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Choosing Between Autorun MAX! and AutoPlay Media Studio

Feature	Autorun MAX! Home Edition	Autorun MAX! Business Edition	AutoPlay Media Studio
License and Branding
Distribute Projects for Commercial Use
Remove Branded Credits Screen
Change Executable Version Information
Design Environment
Maximum Pages per Project	100	250	2500
WYSIWYG Design Environment
Guidelines, Rulers and Grids
Project Explorer Panel
Object Properties Grid Panel
Object Browser Panel
Hide Objects at Design Time
Runtime Features
Non-Rectangular Windows
Background Music
Simultaneous Audio Channels	1	1	7
Startup Movie (Video)
Startup Movie (Flash)
Third-Party Dependency Checking
Menu Bars
Resizable Applications
Objects
Button
Label
Paragraph
Image
Video
Flash
Web
Hotspot
Input
ListBox
ComboBox
Tree
Progress
Expandable with Object Plugins
Modify Objects at Runtime
Actions
Quick Actions	10	10	10
Scripting
Scripting Actions	N/A	N/A	520
Expandable with Action Plugins
Color Syntax Highlighting Script Editor
“Intellisense Style” Code Completion Editor
Arithmetic Operators
Custom Variables
Relational and Logical Operators
User-Defined Functions
Control Structures (if, while, repeat, for, do, else)
Tables, Arrays and Custom Data Structures
Custom Error Handling
SQLite Database Support
XML File Support
Web Downloads/Communication
Events
Globals
Project Events	2 (Startup, Shutdown)	2 (Startup, Shutdown)	4 (Startup, Shutdown, Size, Menu)
Page Events			10 (Preload, Show, Close, Timer, Audio, Size, Menu, Key, Mouse Button, Mouse Move)
Object Events	1 (On Click)	1 (On Click)	2-7 (Depends on the object)
File Formats
Image Files	bmp, jpg, pcx, png, tga, tif, wmf, apm, emf, psd, pcd, gif	bmp, jpg, pcx, png, tga, tif, wmf, apm, emf, psd, pcd, gif	bmp, jpg, pcx, png, tga, tif, wmf, apm, emf, psd, pcd, gif
Video Files	asf, asx, avi, wax, wmv, wvx, wmp, wmx, mpg, m1v, mpa, mpe, mpv2	asf, asx, avi, wax, wmv, wvx, wmp, wmx, mpg, m1v, mpa, mpe, mpv2	asf, asx, avi, wax, wmv, wvx, wmp, wmx, mpg, m1v, mpa, mpe, mpv2
Flash Files
Audio Files	wav, raw, ogg, aif, aiff, wma, asf	wav, raw, ogg, aif, aiff, wma, asf	wav, raw, ogg, aif, aiff, wma, asf
Button Files
Publishing Options
Burn CD-R/RW
Burn to DVD-R/RW
Build to Hard Drive Folder
Build to Single File Executable
Build to ISO Image
Pricing
Price (US$)	$49	$129	$295

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Choosing Between Setup Factory and MSI Factory

Setup Factory 8.0 and MSI Factory 2.0 are the two different installer development tools created by Indigo Rose Software. While they ultimate perform the same task, they approach it from different angles.

Both products support all standard installation functionality, such as installing and removing files, making changes to the Registry, modifying INI files, registering controls, etc. (See the features page for either product for a full list of their features.) The chart below outlines the similarities and differences in some key areas that may affect your purchasing decision.

Feature	Setup Factory 8.0	MSI Factory 2.0
Creates MSI (Windows Installer) packages	No	Yes
Supports a free-form “scripted” approach for setup logic	Yes	No
Level of flexibility	High	Medium
Create self-extracting executable setups (i.e. “setup.exe” files)	Yes	Yes
Create installers that run on Windows 98-Vista	Yes	Yes
Create “Certified for Windows Vista” compliant installers	No	Yes
Create “Works with Windows Vista” compliant installers	Yes	Yes
Register COM (ActiveX) controls	Yes	Yes
Install .NET Assemblies to the Global Assembly Cache (GAC)	No	Yes
Supports the use of Windows Installer merge modules	No	Yes
Install Internet Information Services (IIS) Websites, virtual directories, etc.	No	Yes
Supports automatic uninstall	Yes	Yes
Supports “repair” mode	No	Yes
Flexible configuration of installer dialogs	Yes	Yes
Free-form dialog editor	Yes	Yes
Detect and install third-party technologies	Yes	Yes
Supports more than one language/localization per installer	Yes	No*
Can be used to create Windows Installer merge modules	No	Yes
Built in WiX support	No	Yes
Custom LUA scripting support	Yes	Yes

 

Summary & Recommendation on How to Choose

The fundamental architectural difference between the two products is that Setup Factory 8.0 uses its own proprietary, self-contained setup engine to perform the installation. It includes a powerful built-in scripting language to control the installation procedurally. As such, it is very flexible and configurable.

MSI Factory 2.0, on the other hand, creates Windows Installer packages (.MSI files) that are interpreted and run by the Windows Installer Service which must be pre-installed on the end user’s system. Like all standard MSI installers, these are essentially database files that describe the installation in a declarative fashion, and must abide by the rules of the Windows Installer technology.

Although both products are easy to use, many people find that Setup Factory is both easier to use and more straightforward. This is because of its procedural approach, rather than the declarative approach of the MSI Windows Installer technology (the .MSI technology is inherently more complicated and will require you to learn some new and potentially foreign concepts).

Ultimately, if the chart above does not lead you to a clear choice based on your requirements, you should evaluate the free trial versions of both products and see for yourself.

As a general recommendation, if you do not require an .MSI based installer for your product, then we’d recommend that you choose Setup Factory as your installer builder. If you know that your development requirement calls for an .MSI format installer, then your choice is clear that MSI Factory is best for you.

* Each Windows Installer package can only support one language – this is a limitation of the Windows Installer technology itself. However, MSI Factory 2.0 does allow you to design your installer in multiple languages from one source project and then lets you choose the target language each time that you build.