Microsoft Web Platform Installer = the easy button

I like working close to the metal. It's enjoyable, even when it's difficult. Heck, overcoming the difficulty is sometimes the only fun thing about a project!

But Microsoft's Web Platform Installer makes tasks so much easier to perform. And as much as I hate to admit it, I really like it.

For the last handful of hours I've been getting a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine where I want it. This involves installing ASP.NET 4, ASP.NET MVC 2, FileZilla Server, disabling services I won't be using, and etcetera.

Thanks to Web Platform Installer the first two were easy to install (not that they're particularly difficult) in just a couple of clicks, and PHP (a slightly older version of which was already installed when they handed it off) was upgraded with just a few additional minutes required.

Very nice Microsoft. Very nice.