WinBuilder |
|
| Original author(s) | Nuno Brito |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Peter Schlang |
| Stable release | WinBuilder 082 / August 14, 2011 [1] |
| Development status | Stable |
| Written in | Delphi 7 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows ReactOS |
| Platform | Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Installation Disc |
| Size | 928 KB (version 082) |
| Available in | Multilıingual with language files, English without them |
| Type | System Diagnostics and Administration, Live CD |
| License | Freeware |
| Website | winbuilder.net |
WinBuilder is a free application designed to build and customize boot disks (Live CDs) based on Microsoft Windows (WinPE).
Contents |
Scripts are the building blocks of Live CD compiled with Winbuilder are used to build the core components of the Live CD, for adding applications, and for configuration of a specific project. Scripts consist of a human readable text file with the .script extension and can contain Winbuilder scripting commands, the scripts graphical user interface, and sometimes encoded applications to be extracted when needed.
There is a paper explaining in detail the scripting framework of WinBuilder at Slideshare that provides a comprehensive description of how it works.
A Project is a collection of Winbuilder scripts maintained for building a complete Live CD. Each project contains multiple scripts, each responsible for adding features or applications to the build.
Users may build their own projects from scratch or use one of many projects actively developed by the boot-land community. Projects can be downloaded directly using Winbuilder's built-in download manager and used as-is or further customized to meet the individual's needs.
All of these projects are developed and distributed freely and aim to provide an alternative to other popular Live CD distributions based on Linux such as Knoppix, Slax, Damn Small Linux, which are known for their use in rescue or administrative actions on PCs.
Use of the software to build various customized boot disks has been covered in articles from PC Quest,[1] PC-Welt[2] (the German edition of PC World, which also offers some customized scripts for building disk images including additional utilities, branded as pcwVistaPE[3] and pcwWin7PE[4]), the Russian edition of CHIP,[5] and by TeraByte Unlimited.[6]
CNET editor's review found that "WinBuilder is one of the most easy-to-use boot disk creation tools in the genre," and praised it for its "novice-friendly interface", but at the same time warned that the "program expects experienced users. For the most part, boot disk applications are for experts only." The built-in Download Center was remarked because it "simplifies procuring the boot disk applications." Other features praised were "its small size, fair memory overhead, simple instructions, and robust application installation wizards."[7]