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I agree with the mixture approach, especially when the purchase price of the software is five to ten times the cost of the computer it's used on. I will utilize the freeware until I am forced to pay for features that are not available in the freeware versions.
Rental seems like a viable alternative until you come to the next subscription period and don't have the funds to pay the subscription. That is why I prefer the full purchase with pay-for-upgrades option.
The difficult may take time, the impossible a little longer.
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I use freeware whenever I need some relatively basic actions done.
For specific, complicated, expert and sofisticated actions I pay for software which means I use Photoshop for my job and freeware for anything else.
Photoshop is the only paying software that I use on my machine despites its bugs. For the rest I use Linux and freewares.
When I pay I want outright purchase. This is an issue with the cloud which I avoid carefully.
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Agreed.
I like the deal where...
- You pay for the package up front, with an eternal user license
- You join the support club with an annual fee
Typically, the first year should be included with the initial purchase price.
This model has (from my observations) shown itself to produce the highest quality application, with the best technical support. In my favorite case, I have received tech support from the president of the company; who actually wrote the original code, and who hired the people after him.
While that's not the norm, it is helpful.
A part of that support club is user support forums which can be compared to freeware support; so you get a good dose of both worlds.
Two-way street advantage: this also helps to assure that an expert will be on the other side when you need him there.
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Great points. I think one of the biggest issues is software with prohibitively high prices. Which is not to say that they aren't worth it, but the value is different to different people.
For example, SolidWorks is an amazing tool, and I think it starts at $4000. That is probably a fair price for an engineering firm, but for my small business, it would never pay for itself. I'd happily pay $300 for it if I was getting the same product.
I like the trend I see toward community editions like Visual Studio. To a hobbyist or small business that uses it for their website, it's perfect. For my small software shop, Professional is reasonable and affordable; and the big guys can afford Enterprise + MSDN.
SyncFusion has led by example with the community release of their amazing product line.
Disclosure: I have an arms-length relationship with SyncFusion.
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I like the monthly/yearly subscriptions because usually they give you good service, the latest versions and support without being too expensive.
I'm thinking about my Office 365 subscription for instance.
For the price of my previous Dropbox subscription, I get One Drive and the actual MS Office to install on my machine.
Another advantage about this kind of subscriptions is that you can try/drop them without spending too much money.
I'm sure there are bad experiences, but until now I can't complain.
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I agree! I use all five licences for Office 365 and find it to be cost effective at $2.20/month/device. It will interesting to see how the upgrade goes later this year. 
I also checked out 30 days with Azure. I can see some definite uses for it but the pricing models are confusing and I just didn't have enough time to make the predictions for cost, but we have a new app that it would be perfect for. The jury is still out while we see if the office server can handle the load.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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While I agree office 365 really appears to hit the mark (although onDrive is slow compared to dropbox), there are several subscription services that just don't hit the mark - Adobe is example where I went back to my purchased products that are several years old because the Saas model is expensive and the software broken by their distribution method.
I think office is more the exception than the rule.
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Company paid for MSDN subscription - so I don't pay for my commercial software (but obviously they did). Not surprisingly, I use it to set up my two different office locations and home systems to all have an 'official' company software footprint. Odd to be using MSDN for it's proper purpose.
As for other stuff, I use Gimp 2 for photo editing and other freeware/open source for various fill-ups. Laptops came w/ O/S - so I suppose one could say it was purchased.
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Subscriptions: you pay more for the software, than what it is worth.
Upfront, one-time: you pay a lot for software that might be (most likely) obsolete in under 2 years, tops.
Freeware: you get what you pay for. Most, not all, freeware is shite; don't kid yourself. It's only as good as the motivation to keep it running (i.e. slow cheetah)
In the end, the rear-end, the customer is greeted.
modified 6-Jul-15 8:23am.
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Auric Goldfinger wrote: might be (most likely) obsolete in under 2 years
But it might not be. Software doesn't rust. I use software as long as it does what I need and only upgrade or change to a different product when necessary.
Such as:
MS Office 2003, with the beautiful menues
Visual Studio 2010
Photoshop -- I think I'm using a version from 2002 (v7?)
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Same here, Adobe Creator Suite 3 still works for me, and it was $2500, I'm not buying it again.
Oh and I had to upgrade ever other version in order to get the discount on the next one, and now they won't honor the discount because I'm driving the wheels off version 3
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I am wondering where is that option.
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Depending on what you're torrenting, one or both of these would apply:
- I don't pay for the commercial software I use
- I use only freeware
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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I can merely recommend what I need.
Then get given something cheaper.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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I am so cheap, I can't even pay attention
--Stolen from Sponge bob Square Pant
I do not fear of failure. I fear of giving up out of frustration.
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