WiX v6.0.0-rc.1 is in

WiX v6.0.0-rc.1 is now available. WiX v6 is the second time we’ve released a new annual version of WiX. That schedule-driven planning means that whatever is done and ready gets into a release. This year, we have a smattering of bug fixes, enhancements, and new features.

Here’s what the release notes have to say:

WiX v6 is the second annual release since WiX v4. WiX v6 continues in the tradition of being intentionally highly compatible with its predecessor WiX v5—and by the transitive property of backward compatibility, with WiX v4 too. WiX v6 contains a number of fixes and enhancements of existing features, including those newly introduced in WiX v5. Notable examples include:

Issue	Description
8101	Add PerUserProgramFilesFolder standard directory for per-user packages and use it as the root of the default INSTALLFOLDER.
8577	Create local and domain user groups. In WiX v5 and before, you could reference existing groups
8584	Replace upgrade code GUIDs with human-readable strings. The Package and Bundle elements now have an Id attribute that turns a human-readable string into the equivalent of an upgrade code GUID. You need to provide a value that identifies the “product family,” just like it were an old-school upgrade code GUID. But WixToolset.CommandLineTools.Package is certainly easier to think about than {2e85dc76-769f-46d2-82a7-46cb3a0c9d50}, I think you’d agree.
8663	Allow component GUIDs for registry keys to be compatible with those created in WiX v3. Something we discovered while helping a FireGiant customer is that there’s a scenario where a generated component GUID for a registry value changed in WiX v4. That same thing happened in WiX v3 (for different reasons), which is why the -bcgg (backward-compatible GUID generation) command-line switch was born. Well, now it’s back, if you need to maintain the generated v3 GUID.
8718, 8580	Reduce the use of custom actions in WixUI to minimize the amount of extra work necessary to work around platform-specific custom actions. The custom action to print the EULA—for those who not only read the EULA but print a copy for their records—was entirely replaced by built-in MSI functionality. Similarly, the “extra” checking on paths done by custom action is now done with built-in functionality, though you can opt in to the old functionality using ExtendedPathValidation="yes" on the WixUI element.
8913	Using Heat now shows a deprecation warning. It’s still present and works with WiX v6, mostly by nature of the WiX v6 language not changing. But we plan to remove Heat in WiX v7, so this serves as eviction notice.
8914	Lock files extracted from Burn bundles as additional mitigation against attacks. No protection is perfect but locking files as read-only helps prevent malware from overwriting temporary files used during bundle installation.

Get started with an SDK-style .wixproj project:

<Project Sdk="WixToolset.Sdk/6.0.0-rc.1">
</Project>

Try using WiX v6 in your existing v4 and v5 projects and report any bugs so we have a chance to get them fixed before the release of WiX v6 on 5-April-2025. FireGiant customers: Ask any questions you have about WiX v6; you’re already supported.