topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Thursday March 28, 2024, 1:32 pm
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Last post Author Topic: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!  (Read 16853 times)

J-Mac

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 2,918
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« on: November 12, 2008, 11:43 PM »
Direct Access, which has been running a beta of their version 2 for a few months, recently announced a major change in their pricing scheme - and I do mean "scheme".

Instead of the current standard license, this version will require users - existing users - to purchase a one year subscription for $24.95. ($49.95 for new users). One year and done. No option to continue using the current version - I asked and that apparently will not be allowed.

On top of that, if you want to run Direct Access on both your desktop and a notebook computers - as I presently do - you must pay an additional $9.95 for some kind of "Power User License". Oh, and that additional license is both user AND computer restricted; Direct Access must be used by the same person on the same desktop and notebook. I guess Andrea thinks that Direct Access has reached some kind of "elite" plateau. I think not!

This is the kind of bull that I refuse to accommodate. Time to take my software dollars elsewhere.

Adios, Direct Access. Hello Phrase Express, I guess!

Jim

Darwin

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,984
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2008, 12:07 AM »
Hmmm... I've been pondering posting about this myself, but wanted to wait and see what happens when version 2 goes "live". I'm not happy with the switch to a subscription scheme, either. I'm quite distrubed by the assertion that current users will not have the option to simply stick with version 1.x. I'm not sure that Andrea will be able to enforce this - version 1.x of DirectAccess wasn't sold with an expiring licence... was it? I don't have it installed so can't check, but I'd be very surprised if there is anything in its EULA that says that after a certain point a subscription fee must be paid for ongoing use!

mwb1100

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 1,645
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2008, 12:11 AM »
These policy changes are unfortunate.  I wasn't too interested in paying for an upgrade to 2.0 to start with, but with the more restrictive licensing, I doubt even some sort of stupid impulse will get me to buy (stupid impulses probably drive most of my software purchases).

One year and done. No option to continue using the current version - I asked and that apparently will not be allowed.
Are you sure about that one?  I got an email about the impending release of Direct Access 2.0, and the way I read it, the annual subscription is for support, updates and upgrades - pretty much standard stuff for an annual subscription fee.  It doesn't say anything about the license for what ever you have at the time running out:

To get Direct Access 2.0, you need to have an active upgrade subscription. You can buy the upgrade protection now for only 24.95$/year and get priority support and free updates and upgrades for 1 year.
-nagarsoft.com


Darwin

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,984
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2008, 12:24 AM »
I wasn't too interested in paying for an upgrade to 2.0 to start with, but with the more restrictive licensing, I doubt even some sort of stupid impulse will get me to buy (stupid impulses probably drive most of my software purchases).

 ;D Hear, hear - my sentiments exactly (right down to the stupid impulses driving software purchases)  :Thmbsup:

J-Mac

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 2,918
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2008, 12:41 AM »
Here's a quote from my email:

We you purchase Direct Access you get 12 months of upgrade protection: you will get priority support and access to any version (minor or major) of Direct Access that is released during your coverage period. Upgrade protection costs 24.95$/year.

Please note that the emphasis is mine. "access to" sure sounds like you need the subscription to use it. Either way, I have no desire to use Direct Access through a subscription plan, and definitely no desire to pay for an additional license for my notebook.

Jim

yksyks

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 476
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #5 on: November 13, 2008, 03:51 AM »
Well, this is not a good policy. (I'm not going to even try it. -- What if like it?) Especially the timing is wrong, as these days the version 6 of PhraseExpress is out and it seems to be--unlike the previous one--quite stable and sophisticated.

Darwin

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,984
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #6 on: November 13, 2008, 08:34 AM »
I'm not going to even try it. -- What if like it?

Again, sums up my thinking completely!  :)

@Jim - I think that as long as you have the installer for a 1.x version of DirectAccess backed up you'll be to go. My reading of this part of the sentence from the announcement e-mail:

 
...access to any version (minor or major) of Direct Access that is released during your coverage period

is that you have access to updates and upgrades from whatever version is current at the start of your subscription. 1.x versions won't be covered by this EULA as note the "bit" that I have highlighted.

J-Mac

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 2,918
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #7 on: November 13, 2008, 11:50 AM »
Here's the reply I received this morning from the developer at her forum:

I'm sorry there has been some confusion.
Upgrade to v.2.0 costs 24.95$ and includes 12 months of free upgrades.
The license will not expire after 12 months. Hope this is clear. After 12 months you just don't get any new upgrades but of course you cannot continue using the license you have.
The software is licenses per user/per computer and there's an option to use Direct Access on up to three PCs for 9.95$ more.

Once again, emphasis is mine.  Weird - almost sounds like it was meant to say the opposite, doesn’t it?

Jim

Darwin

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,984
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #8 on: November 13, 2008, 03:16 PM »
Here's the reply I received this morning from the developer at her forum:

The license will not expire after 12 months. Hope this is clear. After 12 months you just don't get any new upgrades but of course you cannot continue using the license you have.
The software is licenses per user/per computer and there's an option to use Direct Access on up to three PCs for 9.95$ more.

Aargh! So which is it?! The bit you highlighted contradicts the first bit...  :o :huh:

Oi!

tinjaw

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 1,927
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #9 on: November 13, 2008, 04:16 PM »
I bet that was a typo and he meant to say "of course you can continue...". I would reply to the email and ask for a clarification.

Darwin

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,984
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2008, 04:45 PM »
I bet that was a typo and he meant to say "of course you can continue...". I would reply to the email and ask for a clarification.
:o

My thinking exactly - don't know how I managed NOT to note that in my previous missive. Too busy trying to unclog my confetti shredder! I can multi-task but only so much...

Carol Haynes

  • Waffles for England (patent pending)
  • Global Moderator
  • Joined in 2005
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,066
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #11 on: November 13, 2008, 05:55 PM »
My shredder recently got totally clogged and I had to take it to pieces to clear it. It was an interesting experience - undo all the screws and lift the top off - so far so good and then a whole pile of little bit fell on the floor including 2 x 3 inch metal bars - took me ages to work out they were spacers to provide support and stop the lid from deforming !! Good luck with the 3D jigsaw (got there in the end and works like new  :Thmbsup:)

Darwin

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,984
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #12 on: November 13, 2008, 09:30 PM »
My shredder recently got totally clogged and I had to take it to pieces to clear it. It was an interesting experience - undo all the screws and lift the top off - so far so good and then a whole pile of little bit fell on the floor including 2 x 3 inch metal bars - took me ages to work out they were spacers to provide support and stop the lid from deforming !! Good luck with the 3D jigsaw (got there in the end and works like new  :Thmbsup:)

That's pretty much EXACTLY what I resorted to... TWICE! Had a major clean out session today - shredded 20 years of documents that "we just had to keep". Er, not... It's all good now  ;D

Darwin

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,984
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #13 on: November 15, 2008, 06:34 PM »
Just to note, Andrea has clarified the licencing terms on the beta forum (no public access):

I'm sorry there has been some confusion.
Upgrade to v.2.0 costs 24.95$ and includes 12 months of free upgrades.
The license will not expire after 12 months. Hope this is clear. After 12 months you just don't get any new upgrades but of course you can continue using the license you have.
The software is licenses per user/per computer and there's an option to use Direct Access on up to three PCs for 9.95$ more.

Emphasis mine.

J-Mac

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 2,918
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #14 on: November 15, 2008, 10:40 PM »
Just to note, Andrea has clarified the licencing terms on the beta forum (no public access):

I'm sorry there has been some confusion.
Upgrade to v.2.0 costs 24.95$ and includes 12 months of free upgrades.
The license will not expire after 12 months. Hope this is clear. After 12 months you just don't get any new upgrades but of course you can continue using the license you have.
The software is licenses per user/per computer and there's an option to use Direct Access on up to three PCs for 9.95$ more.

Emphasis mine.

I mentioned that post to her earlier today and she changed it. It did most certainly read as I quoted previously in this thread. Are you doubting me, Mike?

I wojnt use it now anyway since she is also insisting on an additional license for using it on a notebook. If that is how they want to run it, that's cool. But they can also KOJA!  ;)

Jim

J-Mac

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 2,918
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #15 on: November 15, 2008, 10:48 PM »
Just in case...  (  8)   )

[attachthumb=#1][/attachthumb]

Jim

Edit:  BTW, I know that you know this, Mike, but I didn't want anyone else here to think that I am seeing with forked eyes!  ;D

Darwin

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,984
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #16 on: November 15, 2008, 10:59 PM »
No worries, Jim! My fault, really, as I didn't give the background - Andrea's original note DID read as you related it here; he edited it today, noting that the original wording was a typo  8)

Merida

  • Participant
  • Joined in 2008
  • *
  • Posts: 21
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #17 on: November 16, 2008, 09:54 AM »
Why used DirectAccess anyway? It is a .NET bloat and PhraseExpress is much more powerful anyway. All features of the upcoming DirectAccess 2 are already existing in PhraseExpress and it does so much more. Plus it is free for personal users.

So why bothering with DirectAccess? Have you found any particular feature I missed while I tested a few text replacement utilities?

Merida


J-Mac

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 2,918
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #18 on: November 16, 2008, 11:33 PM »
Why used DirectAccess anyway? It is a .NET bloat and PhraseExpress is much more powerful anyway. All features of the upcoming DirectAccess 2 are already existing in PhraseExpress and it does so much more. Plus it is free for personal users.

So why bothering with DirectAccess? Have you found any particular feature I missed while I tested a few text replacement utilities?

Merida



I already downloaded the latest version of Phrase Express. I tried PE about a year and a half, maybe two years ago - probably V.4 - and it was difficult on my machine. For one, it overrode some of my existing keyboard shortcuts and had no facility to undo that other than shutting it down. At that time the developer told me to just shut all other programs down except the one I am using plus PE. That was reason to remove it IMO. And DA was much less intrusive on other applications; didn't override any shortcuts or at least allowed me to edit them.

Also, PE has the "predictive test" feature, which to be honest was driving me crazy! I thought I had turned it off several times but upon restarting it, same thing would occur. Too many times I ended up with phrases inserted that I hadn't intended. Granted I probably didn't take the time to learn all I could and get it working a little more like I wanted, but the program is designed to determine what you are trying to type and do it for you. DA only inserts exactly what I want it to, and when I want it to.

PE6 looks like it has evolved a good bit, and I might just give it another go, though it appears that I may be able to stay with Direct Access after all.

Thanks!

Jim

Merida

  • Participant
  • Joined in 2008
  • *
  • Posts: 21
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #19 on: November 17, 2008, 02:53 AM »
You have probably installed the sample phrase library while installing Phrase Express. You could have simply removed the sample items.

I cannot imagine that you did not know that you can switch off the features you don't want/need. ;-)

The predictive text can be switched off. But as you said, PE has been improved in this department. I am happy with this feature and you can taylor the options to your needs.

Just for entertainment I have tried the last DA beta version but it does not seem to have improved. I have many abbreviations (in the thousands) and DA totally shipwrecks if you store more than about 500 commands. The program takes forever to load, throws fatal error messages and takes >100MB of memory.

I keep sticking to PE. It is more powerful and stable.

Merida

wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #20 on: November 20, 2008, 12:31 PM »
I'll just keep using the current version- no problems with it. :)

Darwin

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,984
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #21 on: November 20, 2008, 12:50 PM »
I'll just keep using the current version- no problems with it. :)

Yes - that's most likely what I shall do as well...

On a side-note - I bought ActiveWords about four years ago and it's STILL being updated free of charge - three updates in the past three months. It's gotten much more stable and I have it installed on both my Vista and my XP notebooks (very generous licencing scheme allows me to use it on pretty much any computer to which I have access). I don't use it (or any other launcher) all that much, but I am impressed with it after having given up on it a couple of years ago. Don't know at what point a release was made that addressed my objections, but as it stands today it is a very fine application, and not terribly expensive ($49, I believe). It has addins that provide system wide spell checking (my complaint with it is that AFACIT it doesn't have an option to give you any choice between alternate spellings), phrase complete, insertion of boiler text, etc. etc. Worth a look.

FWIW - I currently use FARR more than anything else  :Thmbsup:

wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #22 on: November 25, 2008, 03:16 PM »
Day-to-day I use a combination of FARR, DA, and NextStart/WorkShelf/Nexus.  Just depends on what I'm launching and how often I launch it- and whether my hand is on the keyboard or mouse at the point I want to launch something.

yksyks

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 476
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #23 on: November 25, 2008, 04:25 PM »
For quite some time I've settled on using:

  • HotkeyP for launching often used stuff with single hotkeys (I have dozens of them)
  • FARR for launching no so often used applications or opening documents
  • PhraseExpress for inserting phrases and auto-correcting typos, but not for launching anything

Curt

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 7,566
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Direct Access 2.0 - Getting Too Pricey for Me!
« Reply #24 on: November 27, 2008, 04:14 PM »
If you buy an upgrade to Direct Access 2.0 by the 5th December 2008, we are happy to extend your upgrade subscription to the 31st December 2009 (instead of the standard 12 months). With upgrade protection you will get Direct Access 2.0 and all the future versions released in a year. And of course, Direct Access is yours to keep: you will be able to continue using the version you got during your subscription period after it has expired.
-Anrea Nagar

This time he avoided the can/cannot babbling

- and offers an extra four weeks of license. Wow, I am impressed (or am I?)!

Direct Access 2.0 BETA (v.1.9.9.6) contains a number of fixes (thanks everybody for reporting them in the forum) and a new major feature: the ability to define separator characters (like punctuation marks, space, tabs) that define the end of an abbreviation. This will make the autocorrect work similarly to how it works in Microsoft Word. You type a misspelled word and it's automatically corrected after you press space or any separator character you define. This works when you define your abbreviation to work with no confirmation.

To see some screenshots, point your browser to http://www.nagarsoft...om/directaccess/beta

You can download the latest beta connecting to http://www.nagarsoft...ccess/beta-download/

You can find a list of changes in the beta forum at http://www.nagarsoft.com/forum (you need to register to read and post comments).

DIRECT ACCESS 2.0 WILL BE RELEASED ON THE 8th DECEMBER 2008