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[Minok]

Ok, I had downloaded it and started playing with it during the trail period several months ago.  Apparently you only get 30 real days form the time you install it and thats it - no more time... ever!

I futzed around with it for a day on my home theater computer I was building and got sidetracked by other issues about the HTPC.  Now I'm revisiting the 'how am I gonna play my wav/mp3/etc stuff' and find my 30 days are long gone.

Uninstalling (which i finally managed to do) and reinstalling does not get one a new set of 30 days.  Boo.  What a pita.

Does this mean that I will never, ever be able to get MC9 running on my machine unless I pay for it now? I don't know if I want or need it yet.  I do know that some other software I'm using in conjunction with Girder ties into MC9 (so I'm not sure if MC10 will work) -hence I'd like to reinstall MC9 as another 30 day trial.

Is there some sort of hidden registry entry?  I guess you wouldn't tell me if there was, of course.

[Omni]

Ok, I had downloaded it and started playing with it during the trail period several months ago.  Apparently you only get 30 real days form the time you install it and thats it - no more time... ever!

That's how all trial periods work for all software.  Why do you act so surprised?

Uninstalling (which i finally managed to do) and reinstalling does not get one a new set of 30 days.  Boo.  What a pita.

Boo?  Did you actually say, "Boo?"  Are you daft?  What would be the point of a trial period if you could simply reset it at will?  What would be the incentive to actually buy this fantastic software?


Edit:  Corrected typo and added smiley.

[John Gateley]

I kind of liked "boo" and "pita" (easily confused with pity or the non acronym/whatever pita bread).

But, sorry, that's it. You might try a different machine, or try V10. Post your software config here and see if anyone is doing it with v10.

j

[pbreet]

Many years ago I sold a shareware program with a 30 day trial period.

At the end of the period, I popped up a notice allowing them another thirty day trial, but I would delete their data file....so they would have to reenter all their data (sorry a copy put back later would bring up the same notice).

That wouldn't work with MC, but it was fun for me.

[DocLotus]

As one who downloads a LOT of shareware (and Freeware) almost every day, I too find the fixed 30 day limit to be too limiting.

Often, the shareware's time limit runs out before I can make up my mind.  Some of them only allow 15 days for you to make up your mind.  The worst are products that simply stop working... they all go into the trash can as the time limit is simply much too limiting for me.  

I often install a program only to forget about it for several weeks (or months).  Even using a program on a daily basis, it often takes me months to decide to purchase a product or not.

I have, in the past, bought a few products that looked really great on the surface after using them for only a few days; then to later discover there was some major un-resolvable problem with it or a compatibility issue. I was then stuck with a product that I had paid for but no longer wanted.

Because of the above situation happening to me on more then one occasion, I have sworn not to rush out & buy any more products until I have had a chance to really use it for awhile. This gives me the time to truly evaluate a program & to look for other similar, but better programs.

As I was evaluating ACDee I also tried many other image management programs but found myself always returning to ACDSee as it just worked so darn well & had such a wonderful feature set compared to all other image management programs that I had tried.

ACDSee has a solution for the time running out problem...

* You register the product for a 30 day free initial trail.

* Then you re-register the product with 15 day free trail renewals for an unspecified time (this can go on for some time).

* You have unlimited use of the program and there is no pressure to buy.

* In the meantime, ACDSee adds you to their mailing list & treats you like a paying customer with all normal ACDSee mailings with offers to upgrade to the latest & greatest version (at a cost of only $$).  This make me fell like "part of the family".

This seems to really work well for them as they are number one in sales in image management.

A friend of mine has been using ACDSee free trail for over a year now & he has come to the conclusion that he should buy it also.

I used ACDSee for a very long time before I finally decided that I could not live without it so I bought the whole PowerPack package.

Other trail period methods that I have seen are...

* A start-up timer that causes the program to take longer & longer to start up as time passes.  Some of these will let you load the program for many months (if you can stand the ever increasing delay for loading).  The very slow loading at the end is a real pain but at least you can still evaluate the program.

* Number of times used.  The program will give you unlimited use for as long as you need but only for X number of times.  This can sometimes be very nice as I often install a program only to forget about it for several weeks (or months).  I can go back to it after a very long time as long as it still has some number of times left on the counter.  The only downside to this one is once the number of uses has been used up you can no longer get into the program; it's buy it or delete it.  I have never bought such a program as I in the case of ACDSee will use a program for some very long time before deciding to buy it.

* Unlimited use for X number of days but some features disappear after that time.  MC uses this method. Don't know what to say about this one.  MC is the only program that I have ever bought that uses this method.  It did allow me to continue using it but with limited capabilities which makes it hard to truly evaluate a program when not everything is working.  I have trashed many a shareware program when features stopped working as again 30 days is simply not enough time to properly evaluate a program.  Some programs only give you 15 days.  I saw one that was only 8 days; it went directly into the trash can as all I could see were dollar signs for the greedy developer.  Buy the way; they are no longer in business He, He!

All in all I like the ACDSee method the best because...
* It does not cut me off in mid evaluation.
* It provides me the time to make a full evaluation of the product.
* I'm not hounded to buy the product.
* I can buy it when I'm good and ready, not before.

[jleerigby]

Other trail period methods that I have seen are...

* A start-up timer that causes the program to take longer & longer to start up as time passes.  Some of these will let you load the program for many months (if you can stand the ever increasing delay for loading).  The very slow loading at the end is a real pain but at least you can still evaluate the program.

Powerstrip does this by way of startup tips of the day that cannot be closed until the timer has counted down anbd the timer increases by 1 second every time you use the program.  I thought it worked really well.  I just bought the product after using it for several months and realising I couldn't manage without it.

[DocLotus]

Hi JLee;

That's my point.  The longer the user has full functionally of the program the more likely he/she is to buy it.

Programs that time out or loose functionally after a set period of time kind of leaves the user sitting out on a limb with no where to go.

I have noticed that programs that keep working for a long time seem to be the ones I usually end up buying as I really get a chance to fully test it out before making my decision.

I take my hat off to developers that provide such shareware.

Case in point...

* I first became aware of Media Jukebox v 7.1 (I think it was).

* Seems like some features did not work or work correctly so I returned to Real Audio or whatever I was happier with at the time (might have been Siren).

* Later tried MJ 8 but ran into the 30 day timeout of some features so I was never able to really analyze it fully so I went back to Real One.

* Tried MC 9 (after they changed the name) & found more to my liking but still ran into the 30 feature timeout problem but I still dumped Real One for MC 9 as it was simply better in almost every way.

By this time I had played around with MJ then MC enough to realize that it was simply the best one out there.

So, I did finally buy the program (v 9) & upgraded to MC10 & am very happy with it

[KingSparta]

this is not going to change, and see no point in the thread

30 days is plenty

[jleerigby]

this is not going to change, and see no point in the thread

30 days is plenty

Who says it's not going to change?

 I'm not saying it needs to change but DocLotus took the time and trouble to make some good points.  Discussion IS allowed here isn't it?

[KingSparta]

It is my opinion

[John Gateley]

Hi Doc,

Thanks for the carefully considered comments.

For all: a program that takes longer and longer to start up seems very cheesy to me. Would you really accept this? I mean accept, be happy, and recommend the program to your friends.

For the most part, we put effort into the functionality of the program, not the functionality of the trial/purchase process. What we have isn't perfect, but it mostly works.

j

[Magicland]

Quite honestly I find a flat 30 days quite limiting as well. For those who think it's long enough, that's fine...  for you. It may not be (and apparantly is not) long enough for others. As you're already customers, your opinion of this is pretty irrelevant. As a potential customer, my opinion (hopefully) is important, and as developers, JRiver's opinion is also important (as they're ultimately the only ones who have the power to change anything). I'd much rather see a flat number of uses than a flat time period. Let's say I find out about Media Center. Looks interesting, so I download and install it. 30 days, no problem, plenty of time. Then we get a new client at work, so I have to work late (all of this is hypothetical). Less time to evaluate. I'm flat on my back sick for 3 days, less time. Client at work is progressing well, but I've got to fly off to the other coast to meet with them, less time. New virus screws up computer for 3 days, etc... What you perceive as available evaluation time when you install the program isn't always the end result, and quite honestly, if the program times out before I've been able to decide if it'll do what I want, I'm not going to buy it. Now if this had been based on a limited (say 30, to allow for 1 use per day during the same 30 days) number of uses, I'd be able to evaluate it at my leisure, without another deadline bearing down on me. What if the only free time I have is on weekends? 30 days only gives me 8 uses. Some of us have other lives than sitting around playing with our computers all day long (sadly enough).

[Minok]

Ok, I had downloaded it and started playing with it during the trail period several months ago.  Apparently you only get 30 real days form the time you install it and thats it - no more time... ever!

That's how all trial periods work for all software.  Why do you act so surprised?

Um.... yeah, I am surprised, because that is NOT how all trail periods work.    

 For me, I got to try the software out for a total of less than 15 minutes.  I was installing some home theater PC software that was designed to interface with MC9 - so I decided to go out and get MC9 to see what its all about.  Well, in setting up the home theater PC (and anyone who has attempted to build a true home theater PC (HTPC) knows this), other problems crept up.   The front-end software for my 4-line display required an upgrade in Girder, which required an email to the Girder folks on why thier built-in registration system did not work with Mozilla, etc, etc... .. life intervenes,  and now its no longer late December 2003, but mid March 2004 and MC9 doesn't just disable some key features - it disables itself TOTALLY.

 Let me just say that this is not inspiring me to go out and plunk down  money for this software.  I think a better system would be one that allowed the user to wipe the software out and start with a clean install, say every 7 days after the first 30, if you want to stick to 30.  No one will use it in a production system but surely if someone wants to use it consistantly, they WILL buy a license.  

To expect me to shell out aroiund $40 for a media player with a library system attached without having had the chance to test drive it for an extended period of time is crazy. And for me, thats all MC9 would be used for - a way to organize the MP3's and 'maybe'  some videos (does it do that)?

[JimH]

Minok,
Try MC10.

Everyone else,
If your theories are right and there are better ways for users, then maybe we'll change some day.  More money would certainly be welcome.

As you might imagine, a change of any kind can take up significant development time, and it has some risk associated (may not work right).

So for now, we're sticking with what we know and love.

Jim

[DocLotus]

Know and LOVE ?

Funny

[Minok]

Minok,
Try MC10.

Jim

Well, I'll give it a shot.  The trick will be, will it interface with Girder/ LCD Master and if not, can we figure out why early enough before the 30 day period is over.

[Sir Alan]

Personally, I would go for n days/hours of actual use - but whatever number you choose for n, it won't suit everyone.  There must always be some compromise between the need for reasonable evaluation and the prevention of somebody jumping aboard for a free ride.

If you install software which you may not then be able to use within a fairly generous trial time period, it isn't the seller's fault.  Ok, it may not be yours either, but the seller has even less control over your life than you do.  A friend once complained because he installed something the day before he went on holiday for two weeks, and it only worked for one day on his return.  Doh...