There was a period where you got free updates. Before that, when software came on physical media you might have got updates, or you might have been stuck with what you had.
The reason a lot of software has moved to subscription is precisely because perpetual licenses were a terrible idea for the modern software vendor, on whom the expectation rests of keeping updates coming, even if only to fix and incrementally improve.
How do you think you would have got on with finding a bug in Microsoft Word in 1998? There were even popular games from top flight companies that had some levels impossible to complete and they remain so decades later.
For me a bonus is āsomething moreā.
Since every software do (did) the same thing with licence without subscription and this is the way it worked since about 20 years, I donāt see any bonus.
Or you could tell every not subscription licence software offers a bonus ?
This would be a strange definition of a bonus for me.
Photolab does not offers more than other softwares on this point. Just what others do.
Actually, in recent versions of Photolab and Nik Collection, you were even paying in advance before receiving the full product yet. Features such as soft proofing for printing and x-trans support were promised for some time in the future (and came 6 months after the release) and Nik Collection has been promised updates on their user interfaces that nobody knows when they will come. So the updates are not something expected from the user, but promised by the software company. I would be completely fine with only bug fixes and updated camera and lens support in .x releases.
I am confused by the need for this ongoing discussion. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy anything. DxO gives us a generous 30-day free trial with no obligations. After.testing we can decide whether or not it meets our expectations and is a worthwhile purchase. There are plenty of other software choices available for those of us who donāt believe PhotoLab is a good value or it fails to provide competitive functionality. Where is this all going?
I started this topic, because I think essential information is missing on the website (next to te price of a DXO product!) when you purchase a licence for a DXO product. It should be clear from the time of purchase what/when the release times in the year are for any DXO product and that you never get a version upgrade no matter how close you are to the new release date. That way customers can decide when they purchase a product based on that important info instead of lurking around the DXO forums to get that information!
A demo version will not change that!
I have paid ā¬ 219,- for PhotoLab 6 elite, in 2 months time (I found out) there will be a new release (costing a other 50%) = ā¬ 328,5 spend in 2 months if I want to upgrade. (that is the price for two and a half year Adobe subscription for Lightroom, Photoshop all platforms/devices and 20 gig cloud space).
The issue is not that anybody forces you to purchase/upgrade, but that essential info is hidden on the DXO website while it should be stated on a place where everybody can see it and decide what to do.
I think this is a very valid point to discus and please donāt blame the customer the company has a great responsibility too!
When you buy a softrware license its for the version that you buy. Its not for any future upgrade. There is no guarantee that there will even be a future upgrade. Traditionally (but not universally) minor version releases are free and major releases have an āupgrade priceā for existing users. Thatās not in your contract of sale when you buy it, itās an incentive by the supplier to get you to upgrade. You are not obliged to take them up on it. (Personally I usually only upgrade every second release).
The only real issue is whether the version you bought delivered what you expected and paid for. If it does, the vendor does not owe you anything extra. DxO have a habit of releasing new versions every year, but thatās not guaranteed and so far as I can tell there have been no official announcement of a version 7 yet. So either you hold off in the hope that 7 comes out soon and has some new feature that you think youāll need, or you buy 6 and use the features that exist and live without the (unknown) future feature. If you really need the new feature (even though you donāt yet know what it is!) then you can pay the upgrade price when it eventually arrives. If it turns out you didnāt need it after all then donāt buy the upgrade.
Each year Adobe releases a new version of Adobe Photoshop Elements around October, similar to the release date of PhotoLab. I fully expect it will be released within the next month or two, but like DxO there had been no announcements from Adobe. I may be mistaken, but those who purchase Elements 2023 shortly before the 2024 version comes out will not be entitled to a free version. Many other software vendors work exactly the same way. While some do give advance notice of their new releases, it is far from a universal standard.
I disagree. A 30 day free trial is not a universal standard. Two of the most popular programs available these days are Luminar Neo and ON 1 Photo Raw. Luminar only provides potential customers a 7-day free trial and ON 1 only offers a 14-day free trial. As I indicated earlier, DxO offers a generous 30-day free trial as do many other, but not all, software vendors.
I too have been there, having upgraded to DXO Optics Pro 11 in July of whatever year when PL came out in September. A polite email to DXO yielded a 25% discount voucher on upgrade price to PL 1
, because i have paid 0 Euro