Windows Installer May 2026

: Features can have a parent-child relationship. If a child feature is selected for installation, its parent feature is automatically included.

: Features are designed from the user's perspective. Users can select which features they want to install via the installer's SelectionTree Control .

: Letting users skip unnecessary tools to save disk space. Windows Installer

For managing built-in (like Hyper-V or WSL) rather than application features, administrators typically use tools like DISM or PowerShell cmdlets like Install-WindowsFeature . Windows Installer Features - Win32 apps - Microsoft Learn

: Developers can author packages that allow features to be "advertised" but not fully installed until the user attempts to use them for the first time. Common Use Cases for Developers : Features can have a parent-child relationship

: Installing certain features only if specific launch conditions (like a specific OS version) are met.

: While users see features, the installer actually manages components . One feature can consist of multiple components, which are the smallest coherent units (files, registry keys, etc.) that the installer installs or removes together. Users can select which features they want to

In the context of the , a feature is a specific part of an application's total functionality that a user can recognize and choose to install independently. For example, in a productivity suite, a feature might be a spell-checker, a thesaurus, or a collection of clip art. Key Characteristics of Windows Installer Features