Will Wise Package Studio be Upgraded?
Hi. I've asked this question here a while back and I was never really given a firm answer or any dates. Right now AdminStudio and IntallAware are leaving WPS in the dust and from what we've seen on the tech forums Symantec has no plans to keep WPS alive and well.
We need to decide which packaging tool we are going to use at our company and I'd like to use WPS only because I now the tool having used it for many years. But I can't suggest a tool that is out of date and as far as we know will not be updated anytime soon.
So my question is this: Will Symantec bring WPS into the 21st century with full Windows 7 support, an upgraded Wise Script Editor with 64bit support and the ability to covert any package to a virtual package? And if so when? If I can't get a firm date from Synatec we will go buy a tool from another vendor, which is the trend these days.
Still waiting for a firm answer.
Comments
Unfortunately, there is no
Unfortunately, there is no firm commitment to provide any of the updates you are asking for.
WPS 8 does provide basic support for Win 7 but there is no indication of how much further this will be extended. WPS will continue as a product as it is bundled with the Notification Server product (if I recall correctly), but there appears to be no imperative to upgrade it regularly.
Although there has been talk of upgrading Wisescript Editor to 64 bit, there are again no timescales, and I personally doubt that there is a sufficiently large demand to justify the development costs. When it comes to converting any package to a virtual package, there are many different virtual environments, such as WVS (SVS), App-V, VMware and Citrix, so again the necessary support would entail a level of development that would be unlikely to be justified by demand.
You will never get a firm date from Symantec, in the same way that neither Altiris nor Wise would ever publish firm dates for any of their updates. I would hope for an update in the next 12 months but would not be entirely surprised if it took longer.
Neither Adminstudio nor InstallAware are free of issues, but as you rightly observe, at least they are actively being developed and updated. In the circumstances, I believe your only viable option, if the existing capabilities of WPS no longer meet your needs, is to migrate to either of the above tools. I would strongly recommend a detailed evaluation before you finally decide which way to go. Neither tool is particularly intuitive, but my personal feeling is that the Adminstudio product is a bit more logical in the way it presents information, and of course has the longest pedigree of any mainstream packaging tool.
However, only you have the in depth knowledge of your requirements and environment to be able to assess their relative merits in meeting your needs. Do not be swayed by cut price offers as these represent small savings which will soon be eaten up by time wasted if the wrong tool is chosen.
If your issue has been solved, please use the "Mark as Solution" link on the most relevant thread.
Excellent reply by EdT. Two
Excellent reply by EdT. Two thoughts...
1. It makes sense that Symantec wouldn't announce any definite plans or dates since that might only accelerate defections to competing products.
2. What is "Symanec Vision"? The box at right has a glaring misspelling.
Thank you for the heads up on
Thank you for the heads up on the glaring misspelling of Symantec. I have passed this on to the forum admin so it should get fixed at some point.
If your issue has been solved, please use the "Mark as Solution" link on the most relevant thread.
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