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Desktop Authority MSI Studio ™ - Frequently Asked Questions
 What is Desktop Authority MSI Studio?
- Desktop Authority MSI Studio is a comprehensive application packaging solution that gives administrators and software packagers the ability to quickly and easily create, edit, customize and build MSI packages.
- What is an MSI?
- Microsoft Software Installer (MSI) files are Microsoft's Windows Installer files. A single MSI can contain the files to be installed, the setup application, and the customizations to the setup, giving Windows administrators a simple method to deploy standardized applications.
- What can I package with Desktop Authority MSI Studio?
- Desktop Authority MSI Studio can package legacy applications into MSI files, repackage existing MSIs, create transforms (which customize the options during an installation) and even compare existing MSI packages.
- Does Desktop Authority MSI Studio require a client installation?
- No. All packaging is performed centrally with Desktop Authority MSI Studio remotely monitoring a reference machine where the application to be mass deployed is being installed.
- Why should I package applications?
- Creating a packaged application ensures an application is deployed consistently throughout the enterprise. Additionally, when creating a package, you can validate, and even test deploy to ensure reliability of the deployment. No user interaction would be required (unless specified when creating the package) to deploy the application.
- What is MCE validation?
- MCE validation is Desktop Authority MSI Studio's faster implementation of Microsoft's ICE (Internal Consistency Evaluators) validation. MCE more rapidly determines errors with greater efficiency and links the errors directly to the MSI table entries for faster fixing of the problems.
- I noticed Desktop Authority MSI Studio requires the .NET framework 2.0. Will all MSI
files created require the .NET framework?
- No — Windows only requires the Windows Installer Runtime to process MSI files. The Windows Installer Runtime is updated through Service Packs and Windows Update.
Desktop Authority MSI Studio ™ Pro - Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the difference between MSI Studio and the Pro edition?
- MSI Studio Pro includes all the features of MSI Studio and two new features: Zero-Touch Testing and Conflict Resolution. Zero Touch Testing allows you to perform a test deployment onto a machine without actually installing the package to see what conflicts may arise once you put the package into production. MSI Studio Pro also maintains a Conflict Resolution repository to compare new packages against to determine if any existing packages already in the repository will conflict with the newly created package.
- How can I evaluate MSI Studio Pro?
- The evaluation of Desktop Authority® MSI Studio™ is the Pro edition, allowing you to test all the features available.
- I have already purchased a copy of Desktop Authority MSI Studio. How can I evaluate the Pro edition?
- If you download and install the Pro edition over your current installation, your existing license key will force the install to operate the non-Pro. To properly evaluate the Pro edition, you should install the evaluation on a separate machine.
- What integration is there with Desktop Authority?
- Desktop Authority MSI Studio can be used standalone, or together with Desktop Authority for greater value. From the "Software Management" interface under Global Options in Desktop Authority you can create and edit MSIs from DA's software repository using MSI Studio, and save the changes directly back into Desktop Authority's software management for deployment.
- What integration is there with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007?
- Desktop Authority MSI Studio version 4 can export MSIs directly into SCCM 2007. Once you have created, captured or edited an MSI package, publishing that application through SCCM is just a few clicks through a wizard.
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Desktop Authority MSI Studio licensing
- For more information on Desktop Authority MSI Studio licensing, see the Licensing FAQs page.
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Product Overview