Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[perceval]

Excuse me for being so blunt right from the go, but I don't understand how this goes.

I want to like MC for the Mac, but I have some difficulties.

The Windows version is $50.
The Mac version is $50 as well.

Now the Mac version is, for a better term, kinda in a beta mode.  It's lacking all the video capabilities, plugin integration is non-existent, feels sluggish using too many ressources, it crashes a lot (I know, I've downloaded the demo) and I'll pass on other things.

So, could someone tell me why the Mac version is at the same price as the Windows version?

I don't understand the reasoning here.
If JRiver wants to promote and get the Mac version to become the go-to app in home media, shouldn't it price it according to the number of features available and build a fan base?

I have trouble to shell out the same money as the Windows crowd and only get half of the whole cake.

Maybe it's just me....

[JimH]

The Mac version isn't beta.  It is audio only.

Our port of Mac took a lot of time (money).  There is no discount when buying MC for a different OS.

[glynor]

I use MC Mac pretty often and have no regular crashes.  There was an oddball long-standing bug for a while, which was only recently quashed, where it would sometimes crash when you were trying to quit the application.  But this was fairly harmless, and was fixed.

It certainly doesn't feel beta to me at all.  It runs well, and the DSP has a lot of capabilities.  MCWS (the Client/Server system) is fully implemented and works great.  I can even connect my mac clients to my Windows server and it works beautifully.  About the only place where I feel it "should" be better to be fully complete as-is, is the lack of CD Ripping.  That part's a bummer, and I can agree with your feelings there.

I'd like to see more feature parity too, but I don't know that the fact that it lacks Video Playback and Theater View makes it beta.  It is just not at feature parity with the Windows version, like basically every other piece of cross platform software I use (some have "better" mac versions, like GoodSync, and most have "better" Windows clients).  Jim has clearly stated that the long-term goal is to provide feature parity, but that this will take some time.

If you're having crashes, it would be helpful if you run through the Troubleshooting Guide stickied on this board, and then report issues.
They can't fix things when people say stuff like "it crashes on me sometimes, a while ago, and that's annoying".

[perceval]

I'm sorry,

I have seen the line "it took a lot of money and effort to do the Mac port" in this place a few times already... starting to sound like a song.
Sure, but isn't it for everything?

One wouldn't open a French cuisine restaurant with 4 white walls, no tables and no chair, offering only main course and no desserts and still charge the same price (because that would be called a "stand") as the full on restaurant across the street.

It takes investments and efforts to do something right.  It has been the same since, oh, forever! 

It seems to me that Mac users are paying the price for features that may or may not be included in the future.  Will JRiver include those features in time.  If we are to believe what they are saying, than yes, it will one day.  But, it wouldn't be the first time in software history that one would retract and say they did their best and it didn't work..

I'm not trying to be negative, I'm trying to be constructive.

Building a Mac fan base, with pricing according to features available.  If more people use it, doesn't also mean more money for JRiver?  Than, their efforts will be remunerated, and then some.

I just don't see the point of getting full remuneration for a job not finished.

[glynor]

It seems to me that Mac users are paying the price for features that may or may not be included in the future.  Will JRiver include those features in time.  If we are to believe what they are saying, than yes, it will one day.  But, it wouldn't be the first time in software history that one would retract and say they did their best and it didn't work..

I just don't see the point of getting full remuneration for a job not finished.

I don't think they're making any promises for the future.  Quite the opposite, in fact.

They have a free trial, and you buy the application from within it.  You certainly get any improvements they add from then on until the next major version release (and JRiver does often give us hints about these plans, especially at the beginning of a major version).  But there's no promise.

No one is forcing you to get it if it doesn't meet your needs.  If you're happy with what it can do now (which is quite a lot, if you're interested in it for music) then buy it.  If not (if you're mostly interested in Video or Theater View), then don't.  Those, when they come, will absolutely be a separate major version.  That has been stated quite clearly at this point.  They have said "yeah, that's our goal" but nowhere did they suggest it was guaranteed for MC19 (the opposite, right from the beginning, I believe).

I think, when they do ask for opinions on future development plans, as they often do at the beginning of a new product cycle, it would be completely appropriate for you to say "I'd love to buy MC Mac and support this effort, but I really value the Video and Theater View portions of the Windows version, and until those are ported over, it isn't worth it for me yet".  They'd get that, and it would be showing interest (which I strongly second) in those goals.  Maybe if you buy during the "early bird special" period they often provide, before substantial new features have been added, then you're taking a risk for the future (but being compensated by a reduced price), because not much has changed in it yet at that point.

But, you buy what it is.  Don't buy it if it doesn't appeal to you yet.

[mondello]

Can JRiver run on multiple machines (PCs). Desktop and Laptop with the same key.

[MrC]

Yes, so long as they are yours, its not been a problem.

[dgcrane]

I can absolutely say that I have not regretted the $50 price one time since I bought it. The software does absolutely EVERYTHING I need it to do in regards to a music player (I have no interest in video).

I use it every day, whether its streaming my collection to my iPhone in my office, airplaying to my wireless speaker in my basement or runnning my main system virtually flawless. For this, I can say thanks.... and I am a loyal owner now.

Darren

[mwheelerk]

Is theater view available on the Windows OS version consider for Audio use. It sure seems  preferable to the cover view with a big black background and zero information on the song and artist we are stuck with on the Mac version.

[Morgan]

Is theater view available on the Windows OS version consider for Audio use. It sure seems  preferable to the cover view with a big black background and zero information on the song and artist we are stuck with on the Mac version.

+1 ... not a fan of cover view in its current state and use mini view instead. Thankfully, we have JRemote.

BTW, I think MC 19 is worth every penny.

[glynor]

I'm too lazy/busy to search for threads, but porting Theater View is absolutely one of their goals.

That is no simple task, though, as Theater View is a Direct3D application (like a game), and there is no Direct3D on OSX.  So, their choices are re-write it entirely as an OpenGL application, or use some kind of bridge system to port it over without a complete re-write (but this will still require a metric ton of work).

Definitely a major version thing.

Plus, you could argue that Video support is more important to have first, since Theater View is really designed to be a HTPC front-end (which, certainly, is not exclusively video related - I use it for music all the time - but it is probably more than 1/2 of the potential use-cases).