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Topic: «[RESOLVED]When did the license turn into a subscription model » on forum: General   Views: 6300
 
Paul Genovese
Registered user
 
 Posts: 52
Joined: 05/05/2005
Posted: 10/29/2014 22:04:18
 
 
 I've been a long time (10 years or so) user and have purchased upgrades, purchased multiple licenses, highly recommended Actual Window Manager to many colleagues, and participated in beta release feedback.  

I remembered getting all point releases being free and all major releases being paid, although I also remember getting a free major release free for contributing to the beta program of a major release.

Today I got an 8.2.1 update notification stating that my update subscription had expired and could be renewed for $29.95, and if I installed the point release update my copy would revert to evaluation mode.

I have no problem paying for major updates.  I have no problem joining a maintenance subscription.  I do have a bit of a problem having my license relationship change completely without warning.

So when did this new subscription licensing model get announced?

Why did this changed?

What are the benefits of this new model to the user?
 
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Alexander Mihalkin
Administrator

-retired-
 
 Posts: 502
Joined: 04/21/2014
Posted: 10/30/2014 18:18:32
 
 
 Dear Paul,

thank you for your post and for using and promoting our products!

The Upgrade policy was changed along with License policy starting from 8.0 version. It was stated in What's new in Actual Window Manager 8.0. One might lose sight of some interesting and significant news ignoring this section.

Also you can find information about new Upgrade policy in Actual Window Manager Help -> Overview -> Upgrading, on Upgrade Center pages on our website; this information was also added to product order pages and to EULA.

The most important benefit to a user is that he or she knows precisely for which period he or she is eligible to get minor AND major updates for free - currently a year. Now a user can not get into the situation when he or she has purchased a license and in some months or even weeks the next major version is being released and he or she has to pay to use it.

This topic is discussed quite a lot in this thread, you might want to browse it and join the discussion.

And here are some more key points about Upgrade policy from there by Alex Fadeyev:
Quote
  • The new Upgrade Policy does not force you to pay each year. When the subscription expires, the program remains registered and fully functional, so that if you don't need the latest updates then you can continue using the program as it is. And only when you see in the changelog something that worths paying then you can prolong your subscription; in other words, you can choose the moment of upgrade on your own.
  • As Alex and Pim already noted, purchasing an upgrade does not come at full price - for Actual Window Manager, it costs about 30 USD for now (and we don't plan to change this price in the future). Other products come at 10-15 USD, as they have the lower initial license prices. Shouldn't the value that AWM brings to your everyday work deserve to pay thirty bucks a year? It's less than 8 cents a day! As you possibly noted, we develop our products constantly and I believe that each work should be rewarded fairly.
  • We do not force our customers to upgrade necessarily. If you don't like/need the features of new versions then you can simply stay with the version you currently have.

Best regards!

support@actualtools.com
 
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Paul Genovese
Registered user
 
 Posts: 52
Joined: 05/05/2005
Posted: 11/01/2014 02:09:24
 
 
 Alexander,

Thank you for the response and I agree AWM is worth at least .08 per day to me.

I also appreciate the policy of not requiring the continuous coverage and allowing users to pay if and when they choose.

Thanks,

Paul
 
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