Filed: Microsoft .NET Developer Tools
I have talked about the Web Platform Installer in passing as a way to install various applications, IIS 7, SQL Server 2008 Express, and various other framework, database, and web related technologies on your desktop and web servers.
Although I love the idea of the Web Platform Installer, the reality is that it is almost impossible to download the various applications and tools separately without using it. If all I want to download and install is SQL Server 2008 Express SP2, for example, I shouldn't have to install the Web Platform Installer. Albeit you can download SQL Server 2008 Express separately, it is not and easy thing to find anymore as all links point to the Web Platform Installer. This is somewhat annoying, causing me to have mixed feelings about the Web Platform Installer.
That being said, in the past week I needed to set-up and configure two new Windows 2008, IIS 7 Web Servers as well as a new Windows 7 Desktop Machine from scratch. This is when the Web Platform Installer absolutely shines, because you can easily install a number of technologies and software very quickly. Here are a few:
- IIS 7
- IIS 7 FTP Publishing Service
- ASP.NET
- ASP.NET MVC 2
- Classic ASP
- PHP
- Various .NET Extensibility, ISAPI Extensions and Filters, etc.
- SQL Server 2008 Express SP2
- IIS SEO Toolkit
- WordPress
- etc...
Notice I mentioned ASP.NET MVC 2 above. This showed up on the Web Platform Installer the very day it was released, making sure developers get the latest and greatest tools as they are made available.
If you are not using the Web Platform Installer, you really should be. You can download it here.
David Hayden
Sarasota Web Development