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    Default CAD Software maintenance, upgrade and so...

    I am trying to understand your opinion on the maitenance and upgrade path for a CAD package. There are some good free or open source packages, but professional CAD packages are expensive to buy and to maintain.
    Let's presume the following:
    - you decide that you would need a professional package, and decide to look at Company X's products;
    - you see that are some different levels of software, and you struggle to buy the highest level in order to obtain some advantage over your competitors;
    - you invest in learning that package, and in maintaining it year after year;
    - one day the supplier decides that the highest level of the software (which you bought) is better to not be maintained anymore, and discharges it silently;
    - another day, the supplier decides again that it is easier to maintain just a middle level of the software, and upgrades the lowest level customers to the middle level - now the customers that paid for the highest level are in the same competitive bucket as the customers that paid the lowest price;
    - to add insult to injury, the supplier decides to not give access to old customers to a section of the software that replaces o section accessible initially only to the highest level customers.

    There is such a company in the field right now, and the management considers that they are "generous" in offering the free upgrade to the customers that paid the lowest charges, not caring at all to the high value customers - probably a much smaller number...

    What's your opinion, is this right or not?

    I will not name the company yet, I hope that they will come back to their senses and treat right the customers that invested in their products.

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    Last edited by florins; 03-19-2015 at 12:59 PM.


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    Default Re: CAD Software maintenance, upgrade and so...

    I hear you. I have come to despise most Cad Cam companies.... I HATE DONGLES, I HATE screwy hard coded embedded licensing agreements with a gazzilion characters required to work. I HATE companies that create new versions that address new directions, but ignorantly destroy other operations/methods that have been in place since their beginning and act like it is not broken.

    Offer a program that works at a fair price without all the chains and bindings and people will flock to you. Keep up the pace with development, offer it at reasonable prices and you will have happy users.

    Worse yet, is when you lay down the thousands of dollars some demand, and then good old microsoft comes along with a new version that your old expensive, perfectly fine software no longer works, no matter what "compatibility mode" you try. Of course, if I would pay thousands more in "maintenance" fees, it might run on the new operating system holding all hostage. I think come 2020, we are all infor a surprise when Microsoft cuts off Windows 7. Its shaping up like MS will require everyone to run Windows 10... that is why they are giving it away completely free for Win7 and newer users now. later they will say we did everything we could to get you on the latest and best OS. Now pay up. I've got a lot of older stuff that I invested in that works perfectly fine..... on XP.

    Linux oh linux... Where art thou your Cad/Cam offerings ? Perhaps now that Tormach saw the light, and perhaps now that Tormach owners will get more Linux familiar, we could see some Cad/Cam for linux development pushed forth by demand. I am sick of windows, I am sick of programs made for windows. Any one use SYNERGY ?? Weber Systems: Synergy CAD CAM I'm ready to dump windows entirelly if I can find decent cad/cam programs... the rest is completely covered with LibreOffice, Firefox etc.

    Well, then you have Vectric. Who can complain about their business model (other than they dont have a linux version or a lathe version). Very good software for what it does, at a very FAIR price. Something you can actually afford to keep up to date with. And they allow a copy on your main PC and one on a laptop to my knowledge.

    I think I know who you are talking about though.. kind of obvious. They seem to really only be focused on 3d printing of little plastic, often useless trinkets. Well hurray for them. I'm done too.... been done. Clumsy software anyhow. I am getting by with my old favorite 2D cad (Autosketch) and for 3d work, ViaCad. I have had access to Aspire and Own VCarve Pro. An old copy of meshcam for stl stuff. I create lathe code on an old version of VectorCam because I am not spending $1200 for software that many other people bought and now think they should have tried something different.

    I'm not spending any large amounts on junk..... not anymore. I wised up !

    Chris L


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    Default Re: CAD Software maintenance, upgrade and so...

    Chris, I will wise myself up as well now, I guess... the trouble is when you live of what you produce you really feel that you have to be competitive, and you go to long extents in keeping your workshop up-to-date.



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CAD Software maintenance, upgrade and so...

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