Ok, you’re visual studio is most likely already kinda stuffed, after installing .Net 3.0 and adding the WF-Extension to Visual Studio 2005 and adding the WCF & WPF Extension you got a bunch of new Project and Item Templates.

So here’s another one!

Initially WiX was only a bunch of command-line tools that would turn some xml-files into a nice installer :). Well, with the introduction of Votive there also comes the first usable integration into visual studio. You still have to deal with XML, but at least the commandline tools like candle.exe, light.exe and dark.exe are hidden within the build-process which is being handled by msbuild.

So instead of using the plain-old-setup-project you can now add a wix-installer project to your solution and customize the install-process to your personal needs. Your first stop to get started would be the wix homepage.