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General Software Discussion / Re: The confusion about the term "lifetime license"
« on: November 03, 2011, 08:39 AM »
There are more and more programs that stop working after the license has expired. This is very common in the commercial world, and license management is big (and a big pain as well).
I kind of like the phrasing of: the software does not expire, you can receive upgrades within major versions for free. Upgrades between major versions cost a fee." or something along those lines.
A new twist was recently put out by Sunbelt software's VIPRE (which is a great anti-virus, by the way). They recently offered a lifetime subscription, but it turns out the lifetime is that of the PC! As long as you keep the same system, you can update in major/minor versions, but when the PC is replaced, you have to start over. The license allowed for OS upgrade and a one-time re-install if your hard drive crashes (I guess two crashes means your PC died), and it was not transferable to other PCs. I purchased a Family Lifetime license when it first came out (before all these details were released. Since the Family license is supposed to apply to all PCs in your household, under the old license I could buy a new PC tomorrow and add VIPRE to it, covered under the family license. I'm not sure how it was supposed to work with the lifetime license.
Now that GFI bought out VIPRE, I'm not sure how well it is going to do. In fact, I just went to the website and couldn't even find any references to the lifetime license! Probably an idea that they realized wasn't going to work well...
Doug
I kind of like the phrasing of: the software does not expire, you can receive upgrades within major versions for free. Upgrades between major versions cost a fee." or something along those lines.
A new twist was recently put out by Sunbelt software's VIPRE (which is a great anti-virus, by the way). They recently offered a lifetime subscription, but it turns out the lifetime is that of the PC! As long as you keep the same system, you can update in major/minor versions, but when the PC is replaced, you have to start over. The license allowed for OS upgrade and a one-time re-install if your hard drive crashes (I guess two crashes means your PC died), and it was not transferable to other PCs. I purchased a Family Lifetime license when it first came out (before all these details were released. Since the Family license is supposed to apply to all PCs in your household, under the old license I could buy a new PC tomorrow and add VIPRE to it, covered under the family license. I'm not sure how it was supposed to work with the lifetime license.
Now that GFI bought out VIPRE, I'm not sure how well it is going to do. In fact, I just went to the website and couldn't even find any references to the lifetime license! Probably an idea that they realized wasn't going to work well...
Doug