October 2023: Announcing Directory Opus 13 - Public Beta now open!
People who bought Opus 12 a few weeks/months before that get a free upgrade, and people who bought a bit longer before that get a very discounted upgrade, scaling back to the normal upgrade discount as the time grows.
It's AUD $50 for the seven years of work and massive new features across the board in Opus 13.
We can't win here. We use one currency, someone complains. We use another, someone else complains. When we're talking about a tiny amount like 4 cents, it hardly matters which currency it is anyway.
You're talking as if upgrades were free in the past. Nothing has changed here other than a move from infrequent updates that cost more to frequent updates that cost a lot less. If people care enough to even talk about this at length here, I don't think it's a lot of money either way.
We'll probably bump the big number every year or so, as it's useful to do so, but it won't mean very much. Which updates people can install will be based on when they bought, not the version number.
There will still be big features added, they just won't be held back for years so we can release them together with other big features. They'll go out as soon as they're ready to use.
We're still working out the exact details of that, since it isn't going to happen for another year (new users) or two (people upgrading from 12). You'll be able to stop paying but if you want to get updates again you won't just be able to pay for another year from that point on and get all the time/work you didn't pay for for free. Current plan is as Mosed said, but may also be relaxed; we're still working that out, and trying to focus on the current release rather than what happens in a year.
The installer will warn you if you try to install a version that your licence doesn't cover.
Yes.
But also a lot better, because new features come out sooner, each update costs less and is less of a decision to make, with timing and pricing being entirely predictable, and there won't be future situations like someone buying Opus 12 six years after it came out and then being surprised that 13 is out a year later and costs more than they expected.
It's the old model that you're complaining about here. The upgrade from 12 to 13 is the old model. The new model starts after 13. Opus has never been a "pay once, get all future updates for free forever" deal.
No reason to uninstall 12 if you don't want 13, either. You've paid for 12 and can keep using it forever.