inno setup - registry key vs. .ini files

Question

Dabbling with creating an installer with inno setup- but wondering:

What are the pros and cons of using registry keys (windows program) vs. .ini files that sit within the program folder?

If I store all my user settings in .ini files, the entire program can be removed by deleting the folder.

With registry keys i'd have to create an uninstaller / remove the key manually.

Why is it that most commercial applications use registry values?

I know from brief use of Macs that most programs are drag and drop. Are one of the major reasons because of the lack of a registry key in mac OS?

Answer 1

If you want the settings to be able to be modified by users, do not put them in a .ini file in the program's directory (if you put them anywhere, put them in %APPDATA%\%PROGNAME% on Windows).

The Windows registry is a centralized location to store information, which eliminates the need to write a custom parser, and is standardized on all Windows systems. Most applications, commercial or not, include both an installer, as well as an uninstaller, on Windows.