[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

8 hours ago, ChopperNova said:

Most of the time I keep everything blocked with a firewall, however I would specifically disable it before starting the V1's to check for updates. That must be the reason, so maybe it's a fairly isolated case.

I did see an email in my junk folder well after I saw the V2 was available.

Yea, that'll do it.

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

1 minute ago, ChopperNova said:

This is very good, as soon as I can install it properly I'm gonna buy all three. It's exceptional software.

There's one issue for Serif to consider: I didn't actually know V2 existed until I visited the site to see if they were even still alive. I was in the habit of starting V1 programs daily to check for updates, and it had been a long while since the last one. I understand there's a difference between updates and upgrades, but I would have appreciated a "V2 Is Now Available!" pop-up. There may be customers who don't realize V2 is out.

I did get both an announcement in APhoto start window and an email about v2 being out even though I'm not on the marketing list. So at least for some of us those things did happen.

 

Wonder why you didn't get notified.

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

1 minute ago, Patrick Connor said:

They will 

Excellent. 

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

Just now, Vonsnake said:

Great news on the MSI installer, huge thanks for listening to the feedback! Will grab v2 again once those are live.
 

Automatic updates for v1 refers to the installer, it updates the previous install entry in Windows to reference the new installer so you don't have to uninstall the previous version first. You still have to download the installer manually to update.
 

I hope so. If the updates work the way they've done on v1 then I'll be happy.

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

50 minutes ago, Patrick Connor said:

It will automatically update like V1 did, but each update will be a full size download, where MSIX updates are much smaller delta files 

Any chance for an opt-out for automatic updates? I for one, and I can't be the only one, don't like to update working production software until I've seen that the new version didn't break anything.

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

31 minutes ago, Mark Ingram said:

Hi all. Thanks for your patience over the weekend when our offices were closed.

We've had a meeting this morning and decided to offer MSI installers to those people who would like them. I can't tell you when this will happen, as there is engineering work that will be required to allow this to happen, but we hope it won't be long.

Thanks for your feedback!

Well now, it looks like I will be buying the v2 suite then. Don't let it be said that I don't appreciate it when a company is willing to listen and let the customer choose what they would like to use, instead of choosing for the customer.

Going the options route from the start would've saved both sides some headache here to be sure, but at least we were heard and will get an option.

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

2 minutes ago, mb6391 said:

I'm in the don't know camp but there will be someone along shortly that can explain your question. Many companies - Corel, Adobe, etc are offering their products on MS Store - no doubt a marketing exercise and I wouldn't blame them for that. But, and it is a big but, they also offer a regular install via their websites. Where Serif/Affinity have dropped the ball in my eyes is it's an app or nothing requiring in some cases the requirement to compromise security settings or if you've totally disabled MS Store then you're out of luck.

Maybe V2 is a huge improvement over V1 but I guess I'll never get to find out until or if a conventional install program is released.

This is what it boils down to me. I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that they went app or nothing. If they'd offer both app and a normal installer I would've already bought the bundle for V2.

Now I'm sticking with V1 Photo and Designer and looking for a publishing program.

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

4 hours ago, rvst said:

I posted a rant about this issue in another thread before seeing this thread.

There is an easy way Affinity could fix this problem while still keeping the Windows App architecture.

Install as a Windows App, but then create stub executables that contain only the relevant icon in C:\Program Files\Affinity\Photo\Photo.exe. This stub executable will simply exec the real executable located in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\<mangled name>\App\Photo.exe. The installation can also create a normal program group in the start menu as well as desktop links, at the option of the user.

This method will also allow Affinity2 to integrate into the workflow of other software in the same was as Affinity1 does, since they'll be able to call a normal executable.

Every time there is a new software release, the installer should update the stub executable as well, so that it points to the new location, since that will change. We'd then have an app that behaves nicely both in the normal windows desktop experience as well as in this crippled Windows App model

That would probably work to help with the workflow problems. But it wouldn't solve the big issue I, and apparently others, have with the software going where IT wants to go on the PC instead of going where I want it to go. That is simply unacceptable for me and going by the forums I'm not the only one.

[Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program]

Well, I'm glad and sad that I saw this before buying. Glad because it saved me from the hassle of refunding. Sad because I've had serious respect towards Serif so far.

I was planning on buying the full bundle since I'm in a need of a layout software and Publisher would've filled that need.

I've also been using Photo and Designer for a good long while and wouldn't have minded getting an upgrade for both.

But, this whole apps instead of proper exe software is an absolute deal breaker. If I can't decide where software goes on my PC and what it does and when it does it, it doesn't go on my PC. With the exception of Windows because I use way too much software that is not natively supported on Linux.

So yea, unless Serif come to their senses and offer me a way to properly control the software I buy from them, I am not buying from them. And will not be recommending their software to anyone in the future, as I've thus far done to several organisations and individuals.

And I need to keep on looking for a layout and publishing software.