Microsoft announced the release of Web Platform Installer (Web PI) 1.0, a free downloadable tool designed to help install the Microsoft Web Platform or its components.
The whole platform can be installed to support Web application development. Alternatively, users can opt for specific Microsoft products, such as IIS, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, SQL Server 2008 Express Edition, .NET Framework and others, according to Microsoft's announcement.
This latest version of Web PI has been in beta since late November and has been inching its way from Release Candidate stage to its current 1.0 Release-to-Web status. Earlier issues, such as lack of support for Windows XP and Windows 2003, have been overcome. It also allows the installation of ASP.NET MVC and Visual Studio Tools.
Some users of the earlier beta requested an "uninstaller" for Web PI, according to a Microsoft forum, although it's unclear if Version 1.0 addresses that complaint.
Web PI runs on Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP operating systems, as well as Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. It requires the .NET 2.0 Framework to install and supports both x86 and 64-bit architectures.
Web PI can be downloaded here, and Microsoft provides video instructions to ease matters.
Installation Steps
Install Web PI in 3 easy steps:
1. Click on the "install now" button on this page to install and launch the Web Platform Installer.
2. Choose the profile that meets your needs or choose "Your Choice" for full control on you what you install.
3. Confirm and watch while Web PI downloads and installs what you need.
In other Web dev news, Microsoft has noted a problem with some Web development apps closing slowly in Visual Studio and Visual Web Developer Express, especially when those projects are located on remote servers.
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