Bits.Bytes.

Any software company that is looking for examples of what NOT TO DO to improve its reputation ought to take a look at InstallAware. This is a company that seems to be bending over backwards in determination to lower its reputation down to nothing.

Looking at Stephan Krueger’s analysis, InstallAware appears to have a fine disregard for intellectual property, and has happily  copied the design and content from a number of competitors, starting with Zero G (acquired by Microvision) . Thanks to Archive.org, we can compare the ZeroG site and the InstallAware sites.

Not resting on their laurels, InstallAware then decide they like AdvancedInstaller’s site so much they happily reproduce it for their newest product, WixAware, changing the odd text and graphics.

The comments make for some interesting reading. Anyone interested in knowing what shadow boxing means ought to read the responses from the InstallAware representatives, and the main thrust is that all they are interested in doing is delivering value and services to their customers, conveniently leaving out the blatant issues of the questionable ethics in copying another company’s website design and content.

The latest unfortunates to find themselves in the fray are Dacris Software, who were (un)pleasantly surprised to find that the WixAware UI looked remarkably like that of their own product, ActiSetup. Taking a look at WixAware screenshots side by side with ActiSetup screenshots makes for some compelling viewing. Even some of the icons are identical.

Rob Mensching, arguably the man behind the Wix Toolset, also shares some of his reservations about the company

Also, during the discussion the other InstallAware representative said something that reinforced my negative impression of InstallAware.  It came up that there was some rather notorious compatibility issue in Vista that was believed to be caused by InstallAware.  It turned out to be a non-issue but before we knew that the InstallAware representative was happy to have a notorious bug associated with his product.  He said something to the effect of, “All publicity is good publicity because after a few months people forget what you did wrong and only remember your name.”  That comment felt really sleazy and unprofessional

I find it amazing that in this day and age, a software company that without a doubt is the best placed entity to understand the ramifications of piracy and intellectual property can have the temerity to try such stunts and hope that no one will notice!

The drive to deliver customer satisfaction and better features is not nearly enough justification to plunder the effort and creativity other companies put into their websites, their content, and their product designs! Imitation may be the sincerest forms of flattery but that is no carte blanche for such behavior!