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. Node locked online licensing though.....

/Henrik.