My understanding of English is not good enough to understand this completely. As an existing user, I pay $19,95 and get all future releases or must I pay $19,95 and after a year if a new version comes again I must pay that again, if I decide to use this new version?
I think the problem is the term "lifetime assurance". 8)
$crooged!
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WimdeLange
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when the version that require upgrades is released, it will ask for a different unlock key. People with "insurance" will get it free of charge, on demandjazzcat wrote:how will you enforce the payment-for-new-version requirement?
wim, $20 is all you need to buy. Once "insured" you won't have to pay any more until me/you/x2 dies
if you have to recommend alternative wordings that will clarify the matter, please let me know
If you're going to introduce a new key scheme, please consider making it more friendly wrt. unattended setups - ie., either use a keyfile or at least make the registration-related registry key im/exportable.
Yes, I know you have to protect against casual piracy, but it's dead annoying I have to manually enter the license key after windows reinstall, whereas pirates can grab a cracked version a few hours after you release a new version
Personally I don't think $20 is too bad for major releases, but I'm not fond of timeframe-based "subscriptions".
Yes, I know you have to protect against casual piracy, but it's dead annoying I have to manually enter the license key after windows reinstall, whereas pirates can grab a cracked version a few hours after you release a new version
Personally I don't think $20 is too bad for major releases, but I'm not fond of timeframe-based "subscriptions".
xplorer2 is so good -- I would be happy to go with your Life time Assurance.
I've had other software which came with lifetime assurances. Basically after a while, they stopped all development.
Instead of "Life Time" -- strange as it may seem, I'd rather pay the same amount as you are asking for the Life Time assurance, but for say 4 or 5 years. At which time, if I want the next release I would be given an option of buying another coverage period of 4 or 5 years.
My goal is the following: I want you to have an incentive to continue to make improvements, and hopefully a larger revenue stream for your efforts.
Robert
I've had other software which came with lifetime assurances. Basically after a while, they stopped all development.
Instead of "Life Time" -- strange as it may seem, I'd rather pay the same amount as you are asking for the Life Time assurance, but for say 4 or 5 years. At which time, if I want the next release I would be given an option of buying another coverage period of 4 or 5 years.
My goal is the following: I want you to have an incentive to continue to make improvements, and hopefully a larger revenue stream for your efforts.
Robert
Imho it's fair enough to ask for money for each major revision, because substantial programming time is usually invested in a project. Especially with single-programmer cheap shareware like explorer^2, I don't think it's unreasonable. But I do only want to pay for (relatively) major versions, not for bugfixes and minor versions... and even when a new major version is released, I believe (at least critical) bugs in older versions should still be fixed (backported from major version) if possible, for some reasonable time period.Michaelm wrote:My honest opinion is that all software should come with ONLY a lifetime registration.
I really dislike having to pay over and over again every year or so.
Having said that I think the price for the upgrade that I need to buy now is fair though.
I used to be of the opinion that I would not purchase any software that used a subscription fee based methodology. However, in light of somethings I did not think clearly through previously, I am inclined more to accept this, in certain situations.
First off, I know that you, Nikos, have not ever bundled your app with any one of a number of Malware / Spyware addons that could have ruined your reputation professionally, and for that I have to say "Bravo!". Secondly, you have never been one have seriously crippled your freeware product - back in the days of the original 2x betas (and alphas) I loved being able to use a dual paned file manager that was more windows native, as opposed to using something that was out of the early 90s and had more of a DOS or GTK feel to it. Finally, I realize that, though I don't know much about you, previous customers have only garnered you so much money - and yet you continue to develop this wonderful app.
Having already purchased this app a few years back (and the portable version when you made that available) I have to ask 2 things:
1) Does this cover both the standalone as well as the actual desktop program?
2) Does this (lifetime license) in any other way (other than longevity) change the license as we currently own? Meaning, does this mean that if I were to install X2 on all three of my home machines, would I need 3 separate licenses (yes, a moot point in my case since I can simply use the portable app I paid for but still, a valid question)?
This actually makes me think of another question: I cannot remember how much I paid for the original license, but I am rather sure that I have used up my year already. So, in the even that I was not able to purchase the lifetime protection racket, er, I mean, lifetime *assurance* (sorry, couldn't resist the joke, seeing as how the FBI recently raided the Mafia here in the US) before you released a new *required* fee upgrade, would I have to purchase the upgrade at full price and then be afforded the lifetime assurance, or could I still purchase the lifetime assurance and then get my upgrade for free?
(As an aside, I do remember posting here before, but could not remember my username, not email address, so I created this one. If I can find my original one, can I have the posts under this account moved to that username?)
First off, I know that you, Nikos, have not ever bundled your app with any one of a number of Malware / Spyware addons that could have ruined your reputation professionally, and for that I have to say "Bravo!". Secondly, you have never been one have seriously crippled your freeware product - back in the days of the original 2x betas (and alphas) I loved being able to use a dual paned file manager that was more windows native, as opposed to using something that was out of the early 90s and had more of a DOS or GTK feel to it. Finally, I realize that, though I don't know much about you, previous customers have only garnered you so much money - and yet you continue to develop this wonderful app.
Having already purchased this app a few years back (and the portable version when you made that available) I have to ask 2 things:
1) Does this cover both the standalone as well as the actual desktop program?
2) Does this (lifetime license) in any other way (other than longevity) change the license as we currently own? Meaning, does this mean that if I were to install X2 on all three of my home machines, would I need 3 separate licenses (yes, a moot point in my case since I can simply use the portable app I paid for but still, a valid question)?
This actually makes me think of another question: I cannot remember how much I paid for the original license, but I am rather sure that I have used up my year already. So, in the even that I was not able to purchase the lifetime protection racket, er, I mean, lifetime *assurance* (sorry, couldn't resist the joke, seeing as how the FBI recently raided the Mafia here in the US) before you released a new *required* fee upgrade, would I have to purchase the upgrade at full price and then be afforded the lifetime assurance, or could I still purchase the lifetime assurance and then get my upgrade for free?
(As an aside, I do remember posting here before, but could not remember my username, not email address, so I created this one. If I can find my original one, can I have the posts under this account moved to that username?)
In theory you could use your single x^2 license for all machines at home, depending on your morals. I think Nikos once (by private email) even said that this would be okay, as long as you're only using it on one machine at a time (ie., you could consider the license to be person-bound rather than machine-bound) - I hope I didn't misunderstand . And imho., that's pretty fair as well.
I hope you'll consider merging the portable and non-portable versions to a single version, that'll let user choose between registry and "whatever is used portable configuration", instead of having two separate versions... and revise the serial scheme as well
. And imho., that's pretty fair as well.I hope you'll consider merging the portable and non-portable versions to a single version, that'll let user choose between registry and "whatever is used portable configuration", instead of having two separate versions... and revise the serial scheme as well
that's only for software that is released early, half-featured and buggy, so you ride along waiting for the software to be finalized. Would you think the same for XP -> vista upgrades? (assuming that was an improvementall software should come with ONLY a lifetime registration
)no, it only handles future upgradesDoes this (lifetime license) change the license as we currently own?
let me clarify again at this point that the licence clearly states that it is granted per user, not per PC. You will know this is very generous already. If you have 10 computers, you can put your x2 on all of them and work with a single licence. On computers shared with others, this does not apply, unless you can take precautions so that others cannot use your licence -- or pay for an extra licence for that PC
fair and square!
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WimdeLange
- Gold Member
- Posts: 416
- Joined: 2004 Aug 16, 08:41
- Location: NL
No I haven't another wording, but I didn't understand it fully. Now I do. I'll go for the insurance. xplorer2 is very good software and if a newer versions comes out, I want to have it.nikos wrote:wim, $20 is all you need to buy. Once "insured" you won't have to pay any more until me/you/x2 dies
if you have to recommend alternative wordings that will clarify the matter, please let me know
.Groetjes,
Wim de Lange
Wim de Lange
I think the price is reasonable - a little too reasonable if one assumes a long and healthy life for X². I'm concerned that there may not be as much incentive left for the developer once a majority of the loyal X² following opts for the lifetime license as there would be under alternative licensing schemes.
I'd rather have a relatively large period (say five years) insurance policy, this way the users will be happy as long as the program sees active development and the developer will have renewed incentive some time in the future.
I'd rather have a relatively large period (say five years) insurance policy, this way the users will be happy as long as the program sees active development and the developer will have renewed incentive some time in the future.