Windows Installer (which was previously named Microsoft Installer) is a component of modern Microsoft Windows systems used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software. It is a competitor to other, 3rd party installation software, such as Install Shield.
Windows Installer (which was previously named Microsoft Installer) is a component of modern Microsoft Windows systems used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software. It is a competitor to other, 3rd party installation software, such as Install Shield.
It has currently gone through 5 major versions, with version 1.0 being available as a part of Office 2000, and version 5 being included in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. Wikipedia has a table with a complete list of Windows Installer versions, the products they were first available on, and the products those versions are also available for.