Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion
Directory Opus 11 Released!
myarmor:
As for the features added, it's true that there are no 'killer' features added, but I think it's a lot of nice additions that improve the experience as a whole.
-Innuendo (March 05, 2014, 08:05 PM)
--- End quote ---
Well, maybe not 'killer' features, but I really appreciate that now you can use jscript/vbscript/whatever for more than
renaming (without "abusing" rename scripting). It also exposes many parts to those hosts (which it didn't in earlier versions).
The file display bar was also nice. No need for a border + location bar, now they're the same, and can be customized just like any toolbar.
michaelkenward:
That said, the typical period of upgrades between major revisions in the software industry is within the last year. -Josh (March 04, 2014, 10:48 AM)
--- End quote ---
You need to compare like with like. The one year of updates you refer to usually applies to software that comes with an update every year or so, often minor "utilities", so you end up paying for a new version after about a year. In effect, this is subscriptionware.
In the case of Opus, you can wait three or four years for an update. So if you buy today at the upgrade price you will end up paying less per year than you will for those annually updated packages.
And in the three or so years of an Opus version you will also receive substantial incremental updates for nothing. One of the programs I buy operates on an annual cycle with upgrades every 15 months or so, long enough to push you out of the free upgrade period, with new "major versions" offering tiny changes of the sort that come along all the time with Opus.
Other software is moving firmly towards being rentware. For example, it was only when users screamed loudly that Mailwasher relented on its annual fee regime and sold a "lifetime" licence. (A lot of customers thought they already had that in the previous version.)
If you look at other software that releases on the same sort of cycle as Opus, Microsoft Office for example, or anything from Nuance you won't even get a discount for the upgrade.
I am open to persuasion, though. Just as I have given examples of software that does not fit into your criterion, I can add more, perhaps you can point us to software that does offer free updates to "major revisions", not just cosmetic tweaks, within one year.
michaelkenward:
No. If you read the post above, you see that for my two licenses, I get three machines. So not quite.
-wraith808 (March 05, 2014, 04:37 PM)
--- End quote ---
That's the two PCs and a laptop deal. (The single licence is one PC and a laptop.) The upgrade price for "ordinary" customers on that deal is AUS$74. I paid AUS$71 for the previous version on 30th April 2011. So it works out at about AUS$8 per PC per year. My how extortionate!
PS I bought the upgrade but haven't installed it. Grappling with Opus always makes my head hurt. Powerful, yes, but that very power can make it hard for some of us to get our heads round all the options.
dr_andus:
As for the features added, it's true that there are no 'killer' features added, but I think it's a lot of nice additions that improve the experience as a whole.
-Innuendo (March 05, 2014, 08:05 PM)
--- End quote ---
Well, maybe not 'killer' features, but I really appreciate that now you can use jscript/vbscript/whatever for more than
renaming (without "abusing" rename scripting). It also exposes many parts to those hosts (which it didn't in earlier versions).
The file display bar was also nice. No need for a border + location bar, now they're the same, and can be customized just like any toolbar.
-myarmor (March 06, 2014, 12:22 AM)
--- End quote ---
Maybe one thing for the developers to take away from this discussion is that the benefits of this upgrade may not have been sufficiently articulated for the different types of users out there. I have looked at the new features a few times but the way they have been presented made it difficult for me to evaluate the economic value and utility of this upgrade.
E.g., if there are no "killer features," or at least some major new improvements, what justifies this as v. 11, rather than just v. 10 point something, for the different types of users (segments that Dopus serves)? If I was into scripting, maybe I'd get excited, but since I don't know how to do that, what else justifies the upgrade? What specifically makes the "nice additions" worth AUD50?
I'm just genuinely trying to make an economic calculation for myself, and I haven't been able to find sufficient articulation of the benefits to be able to make that calculation. BTW, I own two v. 10 PRO licenses at the moment and using Dopus on 3 machines (2 PCs, 1 netbook).
michaelkenward:
Just in case anyone is wondering, AUS$74 is about £40, US$67 or €49.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version