Trouble again with MSIX and MSI installers not working

[Leo1]

Dear affinity, I love your programs and company, and would appreciate if the installation works, since I cannot use your programs. A solution for the installation problem is appreciated. I suspect an incorrect check in your MSIX installer, see below.

 Background:

* Download of v2 apps for windows, worked without issue.

* Update of v2.03 did not work.

* Update to v.2.04, worked. First 2.0 to 2.03 installed. Then 2.03 to 2.04 installed. Strange, why did the 2.03 update did it not work before? Anything changed in the meantime?

* Now having a new computer, the installation of v2.04 did not work.

* I checked all the advice from the spotlight page

* I tried to install https://store.serif.com/en-us/update/windows/designer/2/ the v2.0, v2.03 and v2.04. All gave the same failure messages.

* Installed DirectX v11, since that wasrecommended on the Install FAQ page. I had already DirectX v12 installed.My suggestion is to to change the Install FAQ https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/install-faq/?issues=Error_NoCompatibleOS%2C&locale=en-NL: DirectX 11 not found into DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 not found.

* The Affinity Installer Reason given, see method 1 msix install below. The package requires OS version 10.0.19041.0 or higher on the Windows.Desktop device family. The device is currently running OS version 10.0.18363.2274. (0x80073cfd) The windows 10 enterprise runs OS-build 18363 and not OS-build 19041 for Windows 10, version 1909. Is the affinity MSIX installer checking the wrong OS-build and does it not recognize the enterprise edition OS-build? See windows specifications at the end of this message for all the details.

* I also tried the msi installers and the aflaunch in combination with the msi installers. This also did not work.

* All-in-all I tried in total about 7 hours on two computers to get affinity installed. Checking your website, the FAQ, the internet and affinity spotlight for solutions. I checked my computer, could not find anything wrong. Installed DirectX 11, since it was mentioned as a suggestion. I also tried to install with administrator rights and a lot of other things.

 I tried 3 different methods:

Method 1 msix install:

 

Result:

Text of the reason:

App installation failed with error message: Windows cannot install package SerifEuropeLtd.AffinityPublisher2_2.0.4.1701_x64__3cqzy0nppv2rt because this package is not compatible with the device. The package requires OS version 10.0.19041.0 or higher on the Windows. Desktop device family. The device is currently running OS version 10.0.18363.2274. (0x80073cfd)

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Method2 msi install:

Method3 af launch and msi install:

 

Result of the method 2 and method 3 attempts:

 

The device specifications of my computer are okay I think:

 

Friendly greetings Leo

 

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, Leo1 said:

The Affinity Installer Reason given, see method 1 msix install below. The package requires OS version 10.0.19041.0 or higher on the Windows.Desktop device family. The device is currently running OS version 10.0.18363.2274. (0x80073cfd) The windows 10 enterprise runs OS-build 18363 and not OS-build 19041 for Windows 10, version 1909. Is the affinity MSIX installer checking the wrong OS-build and does it not recognize the enterprise edition OS-build? See windows specifications at the end of this message for all the details.

As the message indicates, 19041 is required for V2. And that's what is documented in the Affinity Store as the minimum release.

Providing the MSI/EXE installer was one step along the path to possibly supporting the long-term-support versions of Enterprise Server, but is not the only step needed. Serif have said they're still working on that. I have no idea what their plans or schedule might be, nor whether they have any updates to their last statement on this.

But for now I think you'll have to hold off on V2.

[Leo1]

Walt, I found a solution, it was upgrading the brand new Enterprise edition. I will describe tomorrow the info, so that others can benefit from this. Cheers Leo

[Leo1]

Here the promised update. I hope the below does not sound negatively, since I am very happy with v2.04 and the Affinity team.

What was wrong. Affinity only supports the MSIX installer, and not installers for all valid windows 10 releases, such as for several Windows 10 Enterprise and LTSC releases. This is a critical problem with Affinity policy, why it cannot replace Adobe. Large companies test a Windows release and keep that stable for several years. There are also critical processes, where the Windows installation should not be updated, so that the new Windows update causes an unforeseen problem (or bug).

However I tried to upgrade my Windows 10 Enterprise edition, since I wanted to run Affinity. I ran into an irritating bug, which caused my USB-C cable no longer work (Dell 5511 upgrade bug).

My advise for Affinity, make also the normal installer (almost everyone is using) available. The claimed reliability of 99,9% of the MSIX installer by Affinity is not true. The success rate of the other windows installers of 80% as claimed by Affinity is also not true. I personally never had a problem with the previous windows installers. In addition only mentioning the build which is compatible is ambiguous, since the normal communication of Windows is with versions, see the image below. A precise communication with complete build description would have been: Windows 10 Enterprise Version 1909 OS build 18363.2274.

 

However I am very happy that  Affinity v2.04 works, the text above is for others to avoid getting into the same situation.

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, Leo1 said:

My advise for Affinity, make also the normal installer (almost everyone is using) available.

It was made available on about January 27. However, it still requires Windows build 19041 or later. Perhaps Serif will be able to get it to support an earlier Windows build; they have said they will try. Perhaps we will find out their progress in the upcoming 2.1 beta which is planned to start soon.

Here's the current info on the new installer:

 

[Leo1]

Hi Walt, thanks for the answer. I tried all that and more. Only after the update to the latest windows 10 enterprise version, it worked. 

What was very confusing for me was:

* https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/180944-trouble-again-with-msix-and-msi-installers-not-working/#comment-1047502

* MSI had an installation success rate of ~85% (and we have many requests to our tech support team for v1 install failures). MSIX promises a 99.9% success rate.

So I did expect the MSIX installer to work, and I spent a lot of time to get it working. I never had an instance of other companies that the MSI installer did not work. The Affinity .exe installer and aflaunch did not work, for whatever reason. I guess that Affinity did not check if it was compatible with with Windows 10 Enterprise 1909, which I think is a fair expectation of a user trying to update, when using a valid Windows Enterprise revision in a corporate environment. 

Personally I think Affinity should state on the installation page that the Affinity MSI installer is not fully compatible, whatever the reason is. Mentioning a build, is not clear for an average user like me.