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Changes in Wise Package Studio 8 – From Release Notes

Not much on improvements here, seems more like a service pack. The last service pack for WPS7.0 was released in April 2008 and there was a blurb about SP4 which was never released to the public. I know many of you were hoping for a big release here but this seems to be just some long overdue cleanup by Symantec and a last minute ploy to support Windows 7.

After loading the Eval copy of Wise Package Studio, everything basically looks the same as far as the GUI goes.

I guess I was hoping for more … more features, more automation, more virtualization support. If WPS8.0 throws out supporting third party deployment tie-ins, why would they support third party virtualization packages. AdminStudio supports Thinapps and others! I expected more but at least Wise Package Studio is still in the game.

Screenshot of the version I installed:

From the offical release notes:

Operating system support. We have added support for the creation of packages and scripts with the Wise Package Studio tools that run on the following operating systems:

Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 SP2
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows XP SP3
Windows Vista SP1
Windows Vista SP2
Windows 7
Start menu shortcuts. The Start menu shortcuts for Wise Package Studio are in a Symantec folder instead of an Altiris folder.

Package Validation tool. When you run Package Validation from the tools menu, you can specify a single installation package file or a folder that contains multiple .MSI or .MS files. If you specify a folder, Package Validation checks all the .MSI or .MSM files in the folder. It can also check the .MSI or .MSM files in the folder’s subdirectories. When Package Validation checks multiple files, the pathname of each file appears in the list on the View dialog box and the pathname is followed by any validation issues detected for that file. When you validate multiple .MSI or .MSM files, the Correct button does not appear in the View dialog box. You can only correct issues from within Package Validation when you validate a single file. Package Validation has also been updated to use the most current version of the Internal Consistency Evaluator rules.

Wise Web Capture. Version 2.0 of the .NET Framework must be installed on the server.

Wise Connector. Wise Connector lets you import software packages and their associated metadata from a Wise Software Repository into Software Management Framework. It imports software packages from a Wise Package Studio share point directory into the Software Library. It imports the metadata that is associated with a software package from the Software Manager database into the Software Catalog. You can import software packages with their metadata on a schedule or manually. After you import software packages with their metadata into Software Management Framework, those responsible for distributing software can easily deliver and manage them. Wise Connector is a Symantec Management Platform plug-in that you install with Symantec Installation Manager. You must have Symantec Management Platform 7.0 SP3 or later to use Wise Connector. The Wise Connector plug-in for the Symantec Management Platform replaces the Wise Integration Component that had similar functionality for Notification Server 6.x.

Software Virtualization Solution. The integration of Wise Package Studio with Software Virtualization Solution has not changed with this release. Wise Package Studio supports Software Virtualization Solution 2.1, but does not support later releases of this product. Although Altiris Software Virtualization Solution has been renamed Symantec Workspace Virtualization, the Wise Package Studio documentation continues to refer to it as Software Virtualization Solution. The documentation also refers to the Altiris Software Virtualization Agent as the Software Virtualization Agent, although the agent is now referred to as the Symantec Workspace Virtualization Agent. For more information about Software Virtualization Solution (SVS), search for Workspace Virtualization on the symantec.com Web site.

Package Distribution. Package Distribution no longer supports the delivery of a package to the following distribution systems: Altiris Software Delivery Solution, IBM Tivoli, LANDesk Management Suite, Microsoft SMS, Novadigm Radia, NetInstall, Novell ZENWorks, and ON Command MSI Package Wizard.

Wise Web Capture. The following message appeared when you launched Wise Web Capture: “Windows has blocked this software … cannot verify the publisher.” This issue has been resolved.

Hotfix patch: In Software Manager, if you imported a hotfix patch, you received an error message when you tried to change its status to Available. You can now assign a hotfix patch a status of Available and the package is then copied to the Available Packages folder.

SetupCapture. SetupCapture now captures assembly information.

Check for Updates. The Check for Updates option has been removed from the Help menu and from the General tab in the Workbench Preferences dialog box.

If you used SetupCapture to capture an application that contains a service, the service was not stopped and deleted when the application was uninstalled. This issue has been resolved.

If a package was imported into Software Manager using Universal Import, the package was not moved to the Available Packages directory when the status of the package was changed to Available. This issue has been resolved.

After capturing some applications (for example Adobe Acrobat 8.12) with Virtual Package Editor, you would receive an invalid source path error when you compiled the .WVP file. This issue has been resolved.

In a locked down environment, a network client installation is now able to install the WiseDotNetStub, Signtool.exe, and Language.ini files that it could not install with 7.0 SP3.

If you captured a legacy EXE that contained a REG_MULTI_SZ key, the entire key was added to the installation instead of just the values that changed. When the installation was uninstalled, the entire key was removed, instead of just the values that were added. This issue has been resolved.

The ability to create an SOE snapshot now works on a Windows Vista SP1 computer.

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