Patent ID: 8171470

Claim:
A method of installing software, the method comprising: obtaining a first installation package distributed for installation on multiple different platforms, the first installation package comprising program content and package information, the package information including information stored in a platform independent format and useable in an installation sequence; converting the first installation package into a second installation package stored in a format native to a target platform, wherein the second, native installation package comprises at least a portion of the program content and the information useable in the installation sequence; and initiating installation on the target platform with the second, native installation package; wherein the converting comprises: transferring at least a portion of the package information to one or more templates that are native to the target platform; wherein the transferring comprises: applying first information to a template executable specific to the target platform to create an application executable; and applying second information to a template installation package specific to the target platform to create the second installation package; copying at least a portion of the program content from the first installation package to the second installation package without modification; and transforming at least a portion of the package information or the program content from a first format to a second format before inclusion in the second installation package.