Try before you buy? Politics of trial-software.

Danny Futuro · Post by **Danny Futuro** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 2:46 am

Just curious as to where some of you stand on this issue. How limited should trial versions of software be? What should constitute these limitations? Are companies offering a fair and truely evaluatable preview? Do the unreasonable limitations of trial programs contribute to piracy?

opions, give em now!

njh · Post by **njh** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:20 am

i have noticed alot of companys offering around 10 days to fully try there product. for me this is more than enough time to find out that i dont really need whatever it was that i downloaded. i am almost convinced that you can find everthing you need as freeware.

eyeknow · Post by **eyeknow** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 10:23 am

I agree. If you give a full demonstration, with a time limit (per session or number of days) it helps to get a real sense of what to do.

I hate drop outs and inserted "swoooshing".....etc.......that ruins it for me.

sqook · Post by **sqook** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 10:29 am

Yep, I agree. When I first released KickMaker, I offered a demo that could only load the factory presets. I thought it was a good way of showing off the capabilities of the plugin without doing annoying crap like playing static bursts or stuff like that. However, sales of the plugin were relatively poor, and I think that ultimately this type of demo proved to be too restrictive -- people want to play around with software and see what it can really do.

So when I released the 1.1 version, I changed the terms of the demo to a 5-minute timeout (ie, the plugin plays for 5 minutes and then ignores midi notes after that). Sales have been much stronger since then, and I think that a better demo had a lot to do with that.

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 12:18 pm

I typically need at least a month to try out software in a variety of situations, and to be sure there's no compatibility issues. Until software manufacturers make it possible to return software where you bought it, I'll continue testing anyway possible to make sure it REALLY works for me before I buy. Been burned too many times by paying for buggy software in the past (cough NI cough).

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 12:36 pm

Tarekith wrote:(cough NI cough).

You just have to pay for the next upgrade, then it'll work... we promise!

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 12:43 pm

LOL, yeah right!

RiotNrrd · Post by **RiotNrrd** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:09 pm

How limited should trial versions of software be?

Exactly as limited as the company that wants to sell it thinks it should be.

C'mon. It's up to them to decide how badly they want to sell their software, and how to go about doing it. If they limit the trial versions to the point that it affects sales negatively, that's their problem. If the trial version is so open that everyone can use it as long as they like, and therefore it affects their sales negatively, that's their problem too.

In all cases, how much to limit a trial version is up to the company that produces it. If they manage to strike a balance between locking it down to the point of unusability and opening it up to the point where people don't really need to buy it, then they've hit the right point. But what that point is is up to them to determine.

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:16 pm

it depends on what kind of software we are talking about. I think the audio platform you choose should be an untimed and limited program other than saving functions. it takes a long time to decide which program you want to use to make music. but then plugins for that program could be a lesser limitation. but I think 30 days is decent. I don't understand the whole 10 day thing. and I freaking hate the noises and dropout ones. I've never bought a plug that used a noise or dropout.

but I'm somebody that bought both orion pro and fuityloops back in the day, and was given reason 2 as a gift, and although those are fun I don't think I would have bought them if I was given a proper amount of time to play with them. they are great and all and I do use them now and then but orion and reason especially just aren't pay worthy to me.
thats just me though I'm weird, and my point is really that your first impression might be "oh neeeeeettt, I want thisss!!" and then you dish out some money and realise later you bought something that doesn't get the job done that you want to get done.

Hatchets McGee · Post by **Hatchets McGee** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:16 pm

I'm down with the fully functional for one month style of demo.

the microtonic demo did my head in. When you rendered a track it stops the microtonic part of the file, and adds a voice over instead - suggesting you buy your copy of microtonic...the message seems to last longer then the audio it renders, like 1 bar of your microtonic loop and a 2 bar message and 1 bar again followed by the 2 bar message....

man, even if it only let you render tracks for 20 minutes after installing it would be better then that, I reckon.

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:24 pm

ok and call me crazy I know this is totally off but back in the day when I bought fruityloops at like version I think I was under the impression that I would get lifetime of free updates. I didn't realise back then that that meant freeupdates for version 3 only. they didn't make that clear enough for a non computer kid like me at the time. I thought I'd get fruityloops 4 and 5 and 6 and all that. I was very wrong.

I should have known, yes, but they should have made it more clear. cause when you see "lifetime free updates" all over the site then it gives the impression you'll get all the new version coming out.

but of course that was my bad. I know. I was young.

Hatchets McGee · Post by **Hatchets McGee** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:27 pm

if they say 'lifetime' , that is definatly misleading.

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:32 pm

Hatchets McGee wrote:if they say 'lifetime' , that is definatly misleading.

They did.

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:36 pm

they did say lifetime free updates, but only for that version.. and apparently they still update that version, I just don't use it anymore but I suppose if I wanted to I could go out and get the latest update for that version and play with something totally out of date. yay.

I totally felt jipped.

corygilbert · Post by **corygilbert** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 10:20 pm

totally ot and in no means meant to be rude but,
jipped is a misspelling of gyped, as in by a gypsy, who by the way are in
many ways a very honest and law abiding people.
Some people might think that usage a little jingoistic.(which may also be misspelled)
I just think it's funny cause it reminds me of software piracy.

and yes I along with everyone think that "lifetime" means "my lifetime"
not "version x's lifetime" That sucks sorry about that. That's why ableton are decent folk. If they expect an upgrade cost, which is reasonable, they are very clear about it imo.