Hi,
With our September update we moved our installer technology from Squirrel to Inno Setup for our Windows distribution. We have had a number of people ask us why we did this. So we thought we would share a little background.
Since our initial launch in May we received feedback from Windows users on our install and update process, a few examples are:
- A desire to have a flexible install location – Squirrel installs in %APPDATA%
- Offering the ability for user to select options during install e.g. add PATH, Explorer menu, …
We wanted to be responsive to these requests. So over the last few releases we attempted a number of work-arounds as well and had several good dialogues w/ the Squirrel team.
Ultimately, the most pragmatic way to address the requests was to move use Inno Setup. This was a tough decision for us, as it now means we have multiple set-up technologies to maintain. However, it was the right thing to do to be responsive to our Windows users. We continue to use Squirrel for OS X and will continue to contribute.
Thanks,
Sean McBreen – VS Code Team Member