Windows Installer 4.5 Software Development Kit is now available for download

The Windows Installer 4.5 Software Development Kit is now available for download from Microsoft Download Center. Download the complete Windows Installer 4.5 SDK, which contains the all the tools, documentation and other development resources for the Windows Installer 4.5 release.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

New and improved features in Windows Installer 4.5

The following new and improved features have been implemented:

  • Multiple package transaction - In a multiple package transaction, you can create a single transaction from multiple packages. In a multiple package transaction, a chainer is used to dynamically include packages in the transaction. If one or more of the packages do not install as expected, you can roll back the installation.
  • Embedded UI handler - You can embed a custom user interface (UI) handler in the Windows Installer package. This makes a custom UI easier to integrate. You can also invoke an embedded UI handler from the Add or Remove Programs item in Control Panel. Or, you can invoke an embedded UI handler during a Windows Installer repair process.
  • Embedded chainer - You can use the embedded chainer to add packages to a multiple package transaction. You can use an embedded chainer to enable installation events across multiple packages. For example, you can enable install-on-demand events, repair events, and uninstall events across multiple packages.
  • Update supersedence resiliency - This feature lets you correct for changes in the FeatureComponent table during supersedence.
  • Shared component patching resiliency during uninstall - This feature makes sure that the most recent version of a component is available to all products.
  • Custom action execution on update uninstall - This feature lets an update add or change a custom action so that the custom action is called when an update is uninstalled.

Windows Installer downloads, updates und tools