While I rarely do Windows development, I recently had the opportunity to experiment with different Windows installation products such as InstallShield Professional and Paquet Builder, when I stumbled upon the Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS) and never looked back.

Unlike other systems that can only generate installers based on a list of files and registry keys, NSIS has a powerful, domain-specific scripting language. And with the use of the HM NIS Edit tool, one can utilize a user-friendly wizard interface to generate scripts within minutes.

To illustrate, let’s look at a simple script that copies a file into the installation directory that the user specifies in a dialog box:

Name "Example Installer"
OutFile "example.exe"
InstallDir $PROGRAMFILES\Example

Page directory
Page instfiles

Section ""
  SetOutPath $INSTDIR
  File example.exe
SectionEnd

The text script is compiled by NSIS into a fully working Windows executable. Simply right-click on the NSI script and select the compile option. Best of all, it’s released under an open source license and is completely free for any use, including commercial applications.