It's the same now as before. You buy a version, get to use it forever, and also get free updates for a period of time. Once those run out (in two years if upgrading from 12), if you want more updates you have to pay some money again. It was the same with every other version of Opus; only the time windows and pricing differed.
Are we talking about the same Microsoft here?
It's the same as if you bought Opus 11, were happy with it for years, and then ran into a bug that was only fixed in Opus 12 after work on Opus 11 finished.
If a problem didn't reveal itself until you'd been using the program for multiple years, it's probably going to be something small, or you would've noticed it a lot sooner, but you'd be able to decide whether you wanted to get a new version that fixed it at the time.
The trial period resets when the main version number changes, so it'll depend how often we do that. We're thinking about bumping that once a year, for a few different reasons. Allowing people to try out newer versions if it's been a while since their last trial is a good reason to do it. (It also stops the version numbers getting silly, and helps to know roughly which version/era people are talking about.)
Not something that's 100% nailed down yet, but I think we're leaning toward bumping the version each year.
For the record I'm not complaining.
Pay once a year or once a major release, doesn't really matter to me as long the price is right.
That said, if you would offer to pay 3 instead of 1 year I would take that.
So in this new model, we get for example one new feature a month instead as it was 30 at the version change.
That would be what MS claimed about Win 10 being the last windows ever. It would get regular updates but there never would be a v11. (yeah I know there's version 11)
I like such a update method but it makes makes version changes kinda useles because the difference between 13.1 and 13.2 is eqaully big than between 13.9 and 14.0
I guess that's why many switched to a year as a version number.
Februari 2024 would be even clearer for the user.
That way the going from 2024 to 2025 doesn't imply*** a major update.
***= Not saying Opus ever made such claims, but my feeling is, that in general it's understood that way.
Agreed. We have been thinking about switching to the year or year + month as version numbers. It'd save looking up when versions came out to work out how new/old they are, if nothing else.
Not sure if we will or not, but we've had similar thoughts internally. The version number will be much less important from now on, whatever happens.
I only wrote about my expection. Not about the reality.
I am using Azure DevOps all the day for work and you don't get the smalest improvement realized by M$, there is allways somethig with higher prio.
Yes, for sure if there is no major bug that crashes everything, its totaly fine. Nothing is without bugs.
I would also pay a much bigger amount for a lifetime update. I also did this for my Amiga and C64 Forever license after upgrading year by year for ...many years, I was happy to by the lifetime upgrades. So I would take the chance if it will be offered.
And also for my record: I am not complaining about the price or the new license model per se. But its unfinished (renewal description is not available) and therefor not 100% clear.
Yes, could also be that we get 1 year of bug fixes and no new feature at all. There is not even a roadmap. I don't expect a guaranty for new features during the update period but a rough roadmap would be realy nice.
@Leo I think I will not upgrade my V12 license but instead by me a new one. I hope this is no problem to have more then one set of licences under the same e-mail/user account.
That's entirely true. But if the past is an indication for the future, there will be plenty of new features. If they don't then they will shoot themselves in the foot.
I got some bad experiences with that too. You buy the software. What happend with two pieces of software I own is that they started selling add-on modules.
If we compare that to Opus it would be the FTP and Portable add-ons that are outside the lifetime licence. Then a deLuxe videoplayer, a deLuxe layout manager, icon packs and skins are sold seperately.
I'm not saying I have any indication Opus is planning such a thing; just trying to explain there are ways to bypass the lifetime licence.
The problem with lifetime is that the payments dry up.
Let's assume 100,000 lifetime licences sold for Amiga. Nice money.
No new users. So 20 years later they are developing for free.
Sure I love free and cheap software, but I can understand Opus wants yearly income because they want to eat once in a while
I blindly upgrade, but in reality I likely use only 20% of the functionality. v13 is the first version since long that really has something new I really need. It already saved me hours of work.
I believe that the DO team is the epitome of professionalism in the industry. I trust them to always make the right decisions. However, if you want to see the opposite of professionalism, I suggest you purchase some PTC products. They charge hefty yearly maintenance fees but offer virtually no upgrades, except in cases where something breaks due to Microsoft. Unfortunately, this is a common business practice among many IT companies nowadays.
This is an excellent question which deserves an answer. I switched vendors and went with a new product because of the described scenario. To be clear, I'm referring to a different software, not DO.
I've been in the IT business since CP/M (slightly before Amiga) days. I've owned or sold hundreds of different software packages. I've observed several things about GP Software that separate it from other vendors (and users). The support forums put all others to shame. They are well organized, have extremely rapid response times, and welcome help from other users. It's also obvious that they use the forums not to be defensive like many others, but to get development ideas. The new pricing model makes sense to me. I've paid for lifetime licenses for many products--some because I want to support the developers, others because the software is beneficial. Often it's obvious the offer is made because the developer(s) need income. In too many cases the software is abandoned shortly thereafter. Opus is a no-brainer indeed.
I was blown away with how versatile the forums for Directory Opus are. Scrolling timeline on the right so you can see the history at a glance on a conversation etc.
Only major issues I have is there being (potentially) too many features to maintain in a single program, particularly with all the new additions in 13, and with the documentation being spread across two sites, gpsoft.com.au and docs.dopus.com
The one new feature I wanted doesn't work correctly for me and there are some other strange things that haven't improved. So it isn't worth it to me. I had to save up to buy this program a year ago and loved it. For whatever reason I have not had a good expereince with the beta and was shocked when they announced it was being released.
size column is still not using everything correctly. I thought it was fixed but it is not. I am still having pixelated thumbnails when the folder only contains 1 item. Images and videos are not always being thumbnailed. I even did a clean install of Windows to see if it was my system. I gave up. I was hoping a future patch would resolve these things.
Size column with Everything can go wrong if the index isn't right. Rebuilding it might fix things. If you're using 1.5, try 1.4 as well, as that's the only version we've tested. (1.5 is still in alpha.)
Image/Video thumbnails, if you mean No thumbnails on network drives - #7 by Leo did you send us the info I requested? I can check if you did. It may be under a pile of other things to investigate, since we only have one report and it's likely to be an issue with an external thumbnailer or codec something has installed. But I can take a look if we have that data.
I use version 1.4 and the folders are sorted correctly by size when using EFS coloumn script, but when I move to the built in size column sometimes it is in the correct order instantly. Sometimes it slowly sorts it's self out to the correct order and sometimes it is just wrong.
Due to frustration I usually just use EFS so I don't have enough experience to understand why it does what it does.
If you mean a screen shot of the task manager when I get the error about thumbnails being halted (or something similar). I get the error message very rarely and am usually busy doing other things if I even notice it. All I can say is I will try the next time I see the error in the script log.
I forgot, I do have more information about the situation. I will add it to the correct discussion, instead of derailing this one.
Someone that only wants a certain feature can wait until it's realeased and then subscribe. The feature will be there if it's there
That said I think you are right and would benefit Opus too if done right.
Users can submit a request and everyone can vote for it. More votes moves it forward in the roadmap.
When Team-Opus is done adding a feature and killed some bugs, the next things they start programming is the feature with the most votes.
I'm aware reality is a bit more complex, but in general I think it's a good thing for both user and company.
Does that mean Opus isn't allowed to do anything not voted for? Nope. Sometimes great features are added nobody requested. So it should be a mix of things. Perhaps first are top-voted-features that fit best it the longterm vision of the Opus team.
