life of a software package

[richard]

Hi everyone
I'm having an interesting experience with DolphinCadCam's Partmaster programme .in oct 2011 I purchased a
"hobbyist" version of Partmaster pro V10. (about $500us) not cheap. I have been very happy with it . DFX to gcode is fast
and easy with pretty comprehensive tooling and machining options including a animated preview .I use it mainly for panel cutouts and accurate hole drilling for my various projects . my pcb program(s) provide a nice dfx to feed into partmaster for this purpose
However last week the motherboard on my pc(win7) "died" and a completely compatible replacement was unobtainable ,so
windows had to be reinstalled . I took the "opportunity" to upgrade to windows 8.1 and an I7 cpu . everything worked
smoothly until Partmaster . partmaster won't activate the licence. Ok i thought win8 problem , I'll put Partmaster on the win7 laptop ,
guess what . Partmaster still won't activate.
After contacting support at Dolphincadcam I was informed basically buy a upgrade or suffer ,they can't /won't allow the product to be activated any longer
(it could be re activated and was last July after I tried their latest offering and it totally trashed my existing installation)

has anyone else had similar experience ?
Is it acceptable for a $500 us package to expire after 3 years ,with no upfront disclaimer before purchase?
I have never experienced this sort of attitude form a software vender before and I feel somewhat cheated.


I'm not a happy camper today

there a more details if interested in this forum if your interested
http://gearotic.com/ESW/FavIcons/index.php?topic=1106.0 (http://gearotic.com/ESW/FavIcons/index.php?topic=1106.0)

[Demon]

Not impressed, would never deal with them.

Did your original EULA have a time limit?

Robert

[richard]

Did your original EULA have a time limit?
don't really know who reads them
I think a full product disclosure would be more appropriate for this sort of thing

ps the other forum has been updated

[Archangel]

Is it acceptable for a $500 us package to expire after 3 years ,with no upfront disclaimer before purchase?
I have never experienced this sort of attitude form a software vender before and I feel somewhat cheated.


I'm not a happy camper today

there a more details if interested in this forum if your interested
http://gearotic.com/ESW/FavIcons/index.php?topic=1106.0 (http://gearotic.com/ESW/FavIcons/index.php?topic=1106.0)

Hi Richard,
Welcome to the cad/cam hood. Gangsters are what my opinion of them is. you buy most Cad/Cam software packages, and you own . . . disks, then you GET TO RENT the license on a yearly basis, not cheap. That is one of the reasons we use BobCad. Yes I really dislike ALL their sales staff, but no annual subscription fees, ownership is transferrable. Is there better software available? Definitely, but not for the price, IMHO. I use ver23. every day and actually have grown to like it, not so v24 & 25 and have not tried the newer Vs.

[richard]

yes a bit of searching around finds many similar experiences in the cad/cam field .I'm told BobCAD no longer licenses v19 and older so hang on.

It’s a bit like the old joke
Q. How many cad/cam software engineers does it take to change a light globe ?
A. They don’t they just call darkness an industry standard

[Demon]

Is that the same Art as in Mach CNC software?

I was on the yahoo CNC group years back when he was still on version 2. I swear I'm building my first machine this winter even if it kills me. LOL

Sure wouldn't say no to a few Gecko stepper drives for Christmas though.

Robert

[richard]

yep same guy ,he's a legend

[richard]

I swear I'm building my first machine this winter even if it kills me. LOL

you could always do what I did and buy one of those cheap ebay chinese jiggers ( I got a 3040) and then spend the next three winters making it work like I want it to
new spindle , usb controller , limit switches etc etc etc you can add to it for ever .

[HenrikOlsson]

Hi,
I've actually considered buying the new version of DolphinCAD/CAM. It seems to have a lot of bang for the buck and the new machine simulation package is pretty cool. What has put me off THIS far is they seem to be stuck in the Windows 3.11 era with regards to UI and I simply don't like it. Now you're saying they're treating you like shit just because you haven't bought every single version they came up with.

The fact that the 6 year old version won't run W8.1 may not be too surprising and really not something one can demand (and I'm not saying you are). However, the fact that the software seems so tightly locked to the machine that you can't reinstall the OS (after replacing hardware or not) and reactivate the same freakin license it really does suck.

"Everybody in the industry is doing it this way" simply does not cut it IMHO (and it's not true either). The fact you can no longer license it is one thing and that's totally OK but it's not like you're trying get a another seat working, just the one you already have payed for the rights to use.

Sure, they did a bad decision when selecting the licensing software for that particular version. They learned their lesson and moved on. That was their mistake though, saying "we don't have access to it any longer so we can't reactivate your already payed for license" may be true but still not OK IMHO.

To keep it a little bit on topic for this forum:
With PBP3 MeLabs moved to node locked licensing and I really don't like it. So far it has worked beatifully though. I replaced my laptop and prior to installing PBP3 on the new one I simply de-activated the licens on the old one. But what happens if they go bust, the license server disaperars and we all have to take great care of our PCs if we want to keep using it.

I don't like maintanence contracts, I will NEVER buy subscription software (like CNCCookbooks G-Wizard software however great it may be). I understand software companies needs a steady stream of income to stay in business. Charge a reasonable fee for upgrades containing new features etc - NOT for bug fixes. At one point or another though you (as a software developer) will simply have to let a verion "go" ie. it's not practical to expect to receive bugfixes in a version that's 5 years old and if the price for upgrading is reasonable that's fine.

I've been looking hard at SharpCAM (http://www.sharpcam.co.uk/). Node locked online licensing though.....

/Henrik.

[richard]

the plot thickens . this afternoon they offered me a free upgrade to v12 provided I buy a usb licencing dongle $200us + p&p I think . but! its a big but , its only standard version . my v10 is the pro version . I had to upgrade to pro because I found the standard version severely lacking compared to the trial version I first looked at . the only trial version available is the pro version then and now .
I'm pretty reluctant to send good money after bad . at least a dongle while it lasts should allow the prgm to be used on any machine . (how long do they last , what is their replacement policy especially after a new version is released ?)
a dongle key seems like a workable system I notice mikronta (excuse spelling) are using them .
no amount of care or backups help when the motherboard dies and a like replacement can't be sourced
with a dongle no problem ? if the company folds no problem.
or am I deluded