[gdal-dev] FWTools and GDAL 1.7.0

[Jason Roberts]

> Windows 7 might actually be different - perhaps they now even now use
symlinks
> to point a localized path to a hidden "Program Files".

Good point. In Vista, Microsoft introduced a "virtualization" feature that
silently redirects write attempts to Program Files. This is part of the very
complicated, much maligned User Account Control (UAC) system that improved
security but resulted in numerous popups from the o/s asking for permission
to do things. This was improved in Windows 7 but that virtualization thing
still exists and causes pain for app developers.

It can be circumvented by using the "Run As Administrator" option when
installing something (you must do it even when your account is, in fact, an
administrator). Installation programs can request a certain level of
privilege that makes it unnecessary for the user to do it.

For more on this, search for "Windows virtual store" (with no quotes).

The consequence for GDAL is that if GDAL is going to develop an installer
for the GDAL libraries and utilities, it would be best if that installer
technology was aware of these issues. For example, creating a .msi installer
with Microsoft Visual Studio is likely to give good success, while
hand-crafting an installation .exe yourself is likely to not work as
intended.

Jason