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1. It is not really the "same" software, any more than Adobe's or Microsoft's software use the same code for their Mac & Windows products. The Affinity team has made the two versions as functionally identical as possible, but "under the hood" they are quite different.

 

2. As has been explained many, many times in this forum, the Mac versions, like all apps sold through the Mac App Store (MAS for short), are keyed to the purchaser's Apple ID, & for security & privacy reasons Apple does not share individual purchaser data with MAS developers, so there is no way for Serif/Affinity (or any other MAS developer) to know if you bought the MAS version.

 

3. Also mentioned many times, when they were deciding what the apps should cost before they ever went to market, the separate license model was chosen because it meant they could offer them at a substantially lower price, so users who only work on one or the other platform would not have to pay more for something they could not use.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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I thoroughly appreciate the point of view re development costs for two platforms and the reasonable prices of the software, but having just come across glowing reports of Affinity I decided to find out what the long lost/forgotten Serif I fondly remember was now up to.

 

It looks good, and I want to buy but I was surprised on the main site that I couldn't find a bundle deal for buying Photo and Designer together (and maybe the book as well), but I can't even add two things to a basket let alone all of them or find a special deal to encourage me to buy (hint: I or people like buying value bundles and don't want to go through purchasing processes several times), so I came to the forum to see if there is a bundle deal mentioned anywhere, but the first post that caught my eye was this particular one re Mac/Win use.

 

I use Windows as my main machine, but on occasions I need to develop, create and check things via my iMac which I keep at my side and so I try to use and/or purchase software that works on both platforms. I don't have any other computers or laptops, so that's just two computers max.

 

I was pleased when I read that the license would allow me to install Affinity on any computers I own (as long as it's just me using them), but I didn't reckon on the whole platform thing still being an issue in these more enlightened and perhaps platform agnostic times. I thought we'd got rid of that sort of problem long ago (at least from the sales/buyers point of view).

 

In relation to the original question in this post, there doesn't even seem to be a cross-grade deal for anyone that might want to swap platforms - sounds more like a loss than some extra profit for Serif to me?!. Despite the reasonable prices, it's a shame Serif don't recognise users such as myself and at least offer some sort of cross-platform bundle that might keep me interested beyond my first glance in years back at what Serif is doing.

 

I hate to say it, but despite all the hard work that goes into developing Affinity for both platforms, it's quickly going to waste for me - I would be just one user with two computers at my desk, and my intrigued interest in Affinity is rapidly waning as a potential new/paying customer.

 

Above R C-R said:

"... the separate license model was chosen because it meant they could offer them at a substantially lower price, so users who only work on one or the other platform would not have to pay more for something they could not use."

 

Another way of saying that is users with two multi-platform computers will pay substantially more than users with two single-platform computers, both doing the same job yet there is no material/tangible extra cost in supplying a single user for both platforms.

 

Whether I drive my car or catch a bus into town, I don't expect to pay for my car's petrol and the bus fare - but buying into Affinity for me would be just that - Sorry, I'm out! No sale, doesn't compute, error line 1: Cannot find bundle/Pro deal.

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@MrArtist

 

Again, there is no way for Serif/Affinity to know who has bought the Mac versions, so how could they possibly offer a cross-platform deal? They don't sell the Mac versions directly, only through the MAS. If they ever decide to sell them directly, they would have to sell a different version, one that replaced the Apple ID based method of licensing & distribution with something else, meaning there would be three different versions of each app they had to support -- which in turn means customers would have to pay for the additional cost of doing that.

 

Another way of saying that is users with two multi-platform computers will pay substantially more than users with two single-platform computers, both doing the same job yet there is no material/tangible extra cost in supplying a single user for both platforms.

 

There is quite obviously an extra cost for single platform users because they would be defraying part of the development, account maintenance, distribution, etc. costs for the other platform. Why should single platform users be forced to pay extra for that?

 

As for "these more enlightened and perhaps platform agnostic times" Adobe's "enlightened" form of that is the subscription model, wherein users never buy the software, just rent it. If that is more to your liking, Adobe will be happy to take your money, month after month, but for a great many of us, the 'buy it once, own it forever' model Affinity has chosen is the more 'enlightened' one.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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@R C-R

 

I have no idea about MAS limitations, a PIA I guess and I avoid it - sounds like a big problem for the Mac ecosystem if devs can't get data on it. I've never really had dealings/truck with it for any of my software investments, I just buy software/licenses, download them (or internet based SaaS) and where possible install on both platforms. My point is most software these days is supplied where if they have versions for Mac or Win, then it really doesn't matter to the supplier, they made a sale and their investment in development for ALL types of users has paid off.

 

You say there is no way for Serif to know who has bought their Mac version via MAS - err, that just sounds daft, but if you say that's how the whole system works then the whole App-App-Appy world is even crazier than I thought - good luck to it!

 

There is one way around the three-version dilemma you propose, and that's to get rid of MAS and just sell directly, but I guess there are more sales through MAS to drive that need? But seriously, I can't believe it would be so difficult to sell on MAS and directly even if the versions have to be slightly different due to the Apple Gods' requirements.

 

There is quite obviously an extra cost for single platform users because they would be defraying part of the development, account maintenance, distribution, etc. costs for the other platform. Why should single platform users be forced to pay extra for that?

 

No, there isn't extra cost for single platform users?! That's just you saying that. No one is forcing single platform users to pay extra, the argument doesn't stand up to reason (and economics). But there is quite obviously an extra cost for dual platform users, which given the nature of the creative industry is almost a must at times for various compatibility reasons. There is also quite obviously an extra loss in sales if I won't/don't/can't buy and then what does that do to costs for all? No one is putting cost on anyone else if the product is developed for both platforms anyway. However, you could say MAS is 'defraying' Win/Mac-Affinity users because Apple takes so much commission. Supplying the software (not via MAS) to a user doesn't actually cost anything, there is no substance to factor in to distribution (and you also get to know who sales were to!) - its digital - no costs involved in creating extra copies! It's not two products doing different things, it's the same product with the same functions which thankfully and needfully is available on two platforms. How far do you want to take your reasoning? - you could have a single-platform user on 100 machines using it day in and day out but only paying one licence, but for me on two machines (two platforms) that I might only occasionally use in a month, then I have to pay twice. Please tell me who would be subsidising who? That's Adobe's big mistake.

 

As for "these more enlightened and perhaps platform agnostic times" Adobe's "enlightened" form of that is the subscription model....

 

Again, no, not necessarily, I speak of SaaS (via web browser/App-style) as well as plain old installable software (free, paid and subscription) that has versions on several platforms without additional fees, more so than ever (and without any App stores being involved). Agreed Adobe's subs plan is a complete farce and pain, but it's still plain old installable software on two platforms for one fee. Being a subscription based rip off for occasional users of Adobe's software has nothing to do with your point and doesn't make it uninstallable or something that has to be controlled by Apple.

 

I suppose you'll next tell me bundle deals (for Photo and Designer) are bad for single-product single-platform users as well? They would be subsiding my purchase perhaps? Well, no, not if I don't buy and don't add to profits. For every one of me, there will be thousands of others... make the sale, get me on board, let me buy in while I'm keen.... I guess not... Hey, I can stick with my current and various other dual-platform services and software, they're fine and do all I need. There's even a free genuine Adobe CS2 out there to download (from Adobe) if anyone needs to illustrate and edit photos and it's still perfectly capable.

 

What the heck, I use Adobe's CC at work but wanted to buy Affinity for myself at home and haven't even tried it yet, but I won't bother now. 

 

I'll keep an eye on Affinity/Serif, I hear there's a Publisher coming out one day but it sounds like it's still a way off. Can't imagine I'll be buying the AffinitySuite1 though as it's not even offered for single-platform let alone dual. But would like it to be !!!  

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@MrArtist

 

As is usual in the software industry, two different teams of developers at Serif write the code for the Affinity apps, one for Macs & another for Windows. While there is some core code common to both versions, each version must be written separately, conforming to the API's provided by two very different OS's, each with its own libraries, frameworks, protocols, & so on. Each must be debugged separately, & maintained not just for the two different OS's but also for each of the different versions of those OS's the apps support and for the different hardware configurations they run on.

 

 So no, these are not the same products, nor are the costs of developing & maintaining one the same as for both. 

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Since there isn´t an "AffinitySuite" there yet,(at least one program not released yet) 

its a bit strange to demand/wish to be able to pay for a "Suite bundle". ;)

 

Adobe was very clear that if you didn´t buy any program or the Creative Suite from the
CS2 version, you are not allowed and have no legal right to download or to use it.
CS2 is clearly not "free genuine".

 

The PSD file format significantly changed over a decade which passed till the release of CS2 in 2005

and you will have a lot of lost data when you try opening PSDs from CS6 and the CC versions
in older Photoshop versions like Cs5.1 and older.

The use cases for such old Adobe versions older than 5 years is quite limited.

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Well from a users point of view these are one and the same products just offered for different platforms. They share the same name, functionality, file format, look &feel etc. It doesn't play any role here if different dev teams, compilers or libraries etc. are used/reused for platform specific portability issues. Also if costs of developing & maintaining differs isn't something the enduser has to be aware of at all here. All that shouldn't be the users problem at all, instead that's a company related internal problem and decision, so how they deal and handle their resources internally and how they do marketing and distribute things is their logistic problem and shouldn't be the customers problem at all!

 

A lot of common software on the market is offered for both Win/Mac by a bunch of software vendors, they too often have different dev teams for their Win & Mac specific ports, as far as their software isn't written the write once and just recompile for the other platform way (...greetings from Qt etc. here). - But the customers/endusers usually don't and shouldn't have to care about those things, instead they are more interested in fexible usage and distribution ways here!

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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Well from a users point of view these are one and the same products just offered for different platforms.

The user point of view does not change the economic realities of cross platform development. If some users are not aware of that or how it can affect licensing terms or purchasing decisions, it is their problem to correct, not the company's.

 

It does not take a genius to figure out that "Buy for Mac" & "Buy For Windows" are not the same thing, to understand the difference between a subscription & a one time purchase, or any of the rest of it. Software is no different from any other purchase: it is the purchaser's responsibility to understand what they are buying. If they do not, then it is not a very good idea to make assumptions or just hope for the best.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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@R C-R

 

I'm fully aware how development works, especially when cross platform - when I say they are the same products, I mean they perform the same functions, they do the same job in the same way, they have common elements in the way they operate, they have the same name.

 

To a user, either platform's version is the same thing, to a developer it's another way of doing the same thing, in terms of the intellectual property rights for the principles in the way each version works, they are the same thing, That is what the customer buys; the concepts, the ideas and methods to achieve an end result in a certain way - that is the product.

 

We don't buy the particular combination of ones and zeros that it's made from although we all know that's how it works under the hood. My Peugeot car is virtually identical to ones badged as Fiat and Citroen but they are all essentially the same car just made from slight variations of parts and accessories - are they the same car? Whatever make a car is, a car is a car, it goes from A to B, that is it's job. Affinity Photo or Designer on either platform does the same job using the same methodology - they are variations of the same product not two individual products.

------------------------------------------------

 

@myclay

 

I was perhaps suggesting as an idea that AffinitySuite1 could be Photo & Designer (+Book), AS2 could be + Puplisher.

 

I'm just surprised there's no bundle deal, and it seems odd that I can't add Photo, Designer and the Book to a shopping cart and that I'd have to go through three separate purchasing processes (or five if adding cross platform!). - It's hardly a way to catch sales. Commonly when purchasing software from one supplier, they'll tempt me with a £/$/% discount if I buy another of their products at the same time and it often works - extra money for them at no cost in provision. I just think Serif/Affinity are missing a trick, but so be it, I'm not 'demanding' anything.

 

I wasn't aware that the Adobe CS2 needed an original license purchase to be fully legal. I had one so maybe didn't take that in. Nonetheless, it's still good software and runs fine on Windows and despite what you say about the obvious changes since to the PSD format (and other file types), it doesn't stop it making good AI/EPS files etc, Layered TIFs, JPGs or whatever, all of which can be used professionally with today's other software/print/DTP/etc. I guess there are quite a few people using CS2 despite not having an original license as it's freely available and Adobe have no way of checking anyway.

 

The use cases of files created with old Adobe CS2 software are not 'quite limited' as you suggest. They still produce valid files which can be very sophisticated in their structure, creativity and compatibility, the suite's programs just don't have all the new/revised tools that perhaps also include extra abilities for the mobile/responsive era. PhotoShop was always amazing, an old version still is, as is Illustrator.

 

------------------------------

 

@v_kyr

 

Hear hear, absolutely.

------------------------------------------

 

@R C-R

 

The user point of view does not change the economic realities of cross platform development. If some users are not aware of that or how it can affect licensing terms or purchasing decisions, it is their problem to correct, not the company's.

 

An extraordinary attitude and thing to say - I don't know if you are part of Serif/Affinity or not, but you're not listening to (current and potential) customers, their needs and views of the situation. All in all sales are not being made and anyone that has to pay twice for a license for dual platform is just going to feel shafted rather than feel good about their purchase. The general idea is that consumers don't need to know how it all works either under the hood or from a sales/economics/dev point of view (that's how Apple sells so much - it just works). Customers just want to buy, use and consume - make the customer feel good and they give money for that. 

 

I'm sorry if you think I'm being a grump and being awkward. I'm just trying to tell you how I feel as a possible customer. For me (and maybe others), I won't pay twice for the 'same' product. A (small) bundle discount for Photo & Designer bought together would be a nice tempter for anyone and please make the buying process simple, not one purchase at a time.  

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The user point of view does not change the economic realities of cross platform development. If some users are not aware of that or how it can affect licensing terms or purchasing decisions, it is their problem to correct, not the company's.

 

 

No, you will instead probably in the end loose those as potential customers then and so finally the earnings you might probably need at some point for any further development and holding your company up and running here. If your distribution model is limited and not flexible enough at some point you will sooner or later feel these consequences and will have to react accordingly. - Further it doesn't hurt to try/test to offer some more flexible distribution ways here or some higher priced software package bundles in order to get a wider user/customer base, if the demand is big enough for those things!

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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An extraordinary attitude and thing to say - I don't know if you are part of Serif/Affinity or not, but you're not listening to (current and potential) customers, their needs and views of the situation. All in all sales are not being made and anyone that has to pay twice for a license for dual platform is just going to feel shafted rather than feel good about their purchase

I am in no way a part of Serif/Affinity other than as a customer. But I have been following this forum for around 2½ years, reading almost every post. There are a few comments like yours, unhappy that one license does not cover both platforms. There are many, many more saying the pricing is fair, that they do not feel shafted because they would have to buy a second license, & even some who have said they have bought a second license that they will never use, just because they want to support the continued development of the Affinity line.

 

Look for yourself if you do not believe me. While you are at it, check out how long potential buyers have been asking for Windows versions, saying they would be happy to pay for a separate license.

 

I do not know who you have been listening to but these are the current & potential customers I have been listening to.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Wow, reading people complaining about the cost for Affinity's products is the last thing I would expect to read about.

I wonder if those are the same people who also wants a "professional" software.

So, I would ask: do you guys use Affinity for professional use? Yes? Then you make money out of it. Then 50 bucks is more or less than a dinner for you.

No? Then you don't use it for professional use, you don't make money out of it, then look for something else, maybe Affinity is beyond your needs.

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Whining for 50$ ... that's what we call "real" professionnals.... I can't believe what I read her....

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I'm fully aware how development works, especially when cross platform - when I say they are the same products, I mean they perform the same functions, they do the same job in the same way, they have common elements in the way they operate, they have the same name. 

 

They only perform broadly the same functions, not exactly the same, and they don't do the job in exactly the same way. An example of the former is the filter effects in Affinity Photo, whose implementation on macOS or OS X differs from the implementation on Windows, so some Photoshop-compatible filters may not work on one platform although they work on the other. An example of the latter is Separated mode, which is only available on a Mac, so Windows users like me have to be content with dragging document windows around the screen.

 

We don't buy the particular combination of ones and zeros that it's made from although we all know that's how it works under the hood. My Peugeot car is virtually identical to ones badged as Fiat and Citroen but they are all essentially the same car just made from slight variations of parts and accessories - are they the same car? Whatever make a car is, a car is a car, it goes from A to B, that is it's job.

 

If you paid for a BMW, I can't imagine you'd be very happy if the dealer supplied you with a Trabant instead! :lol:

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I am a bit on the fence here, understanding both viewpoints. From most users' point of view the old "different platform, new license required" may seem an outdated approach in licensing. Most of the commercial software I have installed is cross-platform, and the same license works for both - so one price covers both Windows and Mac.

 

I do think the main reason for Affinity to have two separate licenses also has to do with the different licensing tech (istore).

 

On the other hand, the price threshold for Affinity is very low: for a mere $100 you get two quality professional products. Yes, it is a bit painful to pay an additional $100 to have access to both a Mac/Win version, but in the end it is still much more inexpensive than a rental scheme that costs $50 a month.

 

I also understand supporting two platforms costs additional development time and money depending on the development tools and APIs used. As I see it, Affinity was developed with Macs in mind initially, and to create a Windows version wasn't just a case of installing the dev tools on a Win rig, and compiling the code straight out of the box.

 

Other applications on the market have been developed with both platforms in mind right from the start, so it probably was a simple case of choosing cross-platform compatible development tools, APIs, and libraries. I have a feeling this is certainly not the case with Affinity.

 

From a user's point of view having separate licenses for Mac and Windows is awkward and unfriendly - even Adobe is aware of this. Many users have a Windows desktop machine at home, and use a Macbook for on the road work. I do feel these users are being punished by a license that only covers one platform. 

 

I'd have to say I probably wouldn't bother purchasing both a Mac and Windows license myself if I'd do my work on two machines with different OSs installed, and just limit my work in Affinity on one. It's not really a question of the actual costs involved, more a feeling that I'd be paying twice for the same product for the convenience of using it on two platforms.

 

Now that web-based browser applications are becoming more and more common, I think a younger audience would also not take kindly to the somewhat arbitrary platform division. 

 

In the end, it *IS* a bit of an old-fashioned outlook on software and platform support, in my opinion. That said, I understand the developers' decision as well. Whether that is the most user-friendly one and smart one in the long run? I doubt that.

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I also understand supporting two platforms costs additional development time and money depending on the development tools and APIs used. As I see it, Affinity was developed with Macs in mind initially, and to create a Windows version wasn't just a case of installing the dev tools on a Win rig, and compiling the code straight out of the box.

 

My understanding is that the core features were planned from the beginning to be "platform agnostic", but the set of tools available for the UI side of things on Windows is very different from the UI tools for the Mac platform.

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@MrArtist,
agreeing with you, it's inconvenient not being able to add all Windows versions + the book into the basket at once.

Might be due to the consecutive releases and not changing the website accordingly to the new situation of fresh customers.

Serif had a couple discounts running, early when the programs where freshly released
and it got extended when the prices changed in the apple store.
They probably will do a discount again when the next program in the line is available.


 

Sketchbook (with Affinity Suite usage) | timurariman.com | gumroad.com/myclay
Windows 11 Pro - 22H2 | Ryzen 5800X3D | RTX 3090 - 24GB | 128GB |
Main SSD with 1TB | SSD 4TB | PCIe SSD 256GB (configured as Scratch disk) |

 

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From a developers point of view there are always platform specific implementation differences, when porting something from one system to the other here and when using an OS systems common available tools. On Windows for example the majority of graphics tools are nowadays usually implemented in C/C++ due to gaining faster performance results in contrast to some other programming languages and in order to be still portabel to some degree. Though portability usually ends on the UI frontend parts here, if no specific dedicated platform portable UI toolkit is used. On Macs you usually instead have to deal with ObjC/Swift for the UI frontend interaction parts, the rest (the backend logic and APIs etc.) can be kept in C/C++ here too. Also on OSX other UI model concepts are usually used per default as on Windows, OSX here uses other delegation and observer patterns and thus UI interaction in general is OS related slightly different implemented.

 

Further when you relying during development on an OS systems accompanied own libraries, then there are sometimes no direct reusable counterparts available in the one or other way on the other system. Meaning here, there might be not directly the same functions and methods available for reusage and thus you then have to write your own stuff here to get things ported and managed. Here it always depends on what you are programming languange wise using and how portable things finally really are.

 

But all that said above is usually something developers have to deal with and do have to care about and not the end users, so it's the developers common daily bread and responsibility to fight with these things when porting software etc. - The end users instead usually don't care about how difficult or time consuming it was to port some software from A to B, instead they care about that the software solution works bug free, does what they need and want, and all that ideally the same way on either platform.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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From a user's point of view having separate licenses for Mac and Windows is awkward and unfriendly - even Adobe is aware of this.

Adobe's 'modern' solution for this is to sell a variety of Creative Cloud subscription plans instead of 'old-fashioned' buy it once licenses. This of course is something everyone finds convenient, cost effective, & user-friendly, making Adobe the most beloved developer of graphic apps the world has ever seen. (It is not the world most of us live in, but that is beside the point.)

 

Adobe is not the only company adopting this 'modern' solution. Among others, industry giant Autodesk has adopted the subscription model, & even allows users to "trade-in" their perpetual licenses to get a discount on a one or three year subscription plan. And like Adobe, they buy smaller software companies competing for the same market & either stop developing their apps completely or hamstring them with limitations so they can't compete effectively with their expensive flagship products.

 

Make no mistake. This is what all this so-called "modern" software economics is really all about. The big corporations don't care if users like them or not. All they care about is keeping as much revenue flowing in as possible, month after month, year after year, to keep their stockholders happy.

 

This is not, in & of itself, necessarily a bad thing. There are benefits & drawbacks for users to this. But it is not & will never be a "one size fits all" kind of thing, so it is prudent to do your own research, read the fine print, & make the best informed choice for your own needs, budget, long therm plans, & so on. That may or may not include buying the Affinity products. There is nothing wrong with that. But please do not presume yours is the right choice for anybody else, old or young, experienced or noob, or however else you want to slice & dice the market for these or any other products.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Adobe's 'modern' solution for this is to sell a variety of Creative Cloud subscription plans instead of 'old-fashioned' buy it once licenses. This of course is something everyone finds convenient, cost effective, & user-friendly, making Adobe the most beloved developer of graphic apps the world has ever seen. (It is not the world most of us live in, but that is beside the point.)

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/16419-advantages-over-photoshop/?p=165704

well actually not everyone and Paolo is especially someone  :D  :P

 

"For my profession I need both PS and AI and there is no chance to have this combo other than grabbing the full subscription, that includes applications that I'm going to pay but I don't need at all... "

 

 

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An analysis and suggestion (tongue firmly in cheek):

 

A single app, cross-platform license for a single Adobe product is now approximately US$20 per month, or $480 for 2 years.

Affinity Designer was released in 2015, and we're still on the 1.x series, and might have more 1.x releases to go.

 

So, if Serif charges $400 (or, if the 1.x series continues for another year, maybe $500 or $600) for a "cross-platform license" for either Designer or Photo, it is still well under the Adobe cost.

 

For those people who desperately need a cross-platform license and the platform issue, not cost, is apparently stopping them from simply ordering two separate platform licences, Serif can charge this full multi-platform price and send them a Windows license and a created MAS account with voucher credit for the Mac version. The remaining cost will cover the administrative needs to create the MAS account and maintain a "cross-platform license" database for future upgrades.

 

Users get a single "cross-platform license", Serif gets adequately compensated, and it still costs less than an equivalent subscription.

Hmm, there may even be scope for a third-party vendor to maintain the "cross-platform licensing".

 

What do people think?

 

I refer non-English speakers again to "tongue in cheek".

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I appreciate all the problems and dilemmas everyone has brought up. I know the prices when compared to Adobe are very reasonable but my main problem remains in that if I have any number of single-platform computers then I only need one license but if I have one Win and one Mac machine I therefore have to buy twice.

 

Adobe get around the problem by allowing install on either platform any number of times but limiting the use to two activated installs. This is good and works really well in a common-sense way (for users) and enables things like having one main install on a desktop and another (for example) on a laptop which is useful when on the go and visiting clients.

 

I could have Adobe CC installed on both my Win and Mac desktop machines for one fee, no problem. I don't have a laptop but if I did I could have CC installed on it as well and if out and about I could remotely deactivate one of my desktop installs so I could use my laptop's install instead. All round, it's a useful and winning solution that limits abuse of the licensing limits and is one simple fee for all for the least inconvenience.

 

What I resent and feel 'shafted' about (to quote myself) is when I have to pay twice for a product/solution when it is just me using it, especially when using one of those platforms very occasionally just so I can at least check how things appear/run/work on that other platform to check for compatibility issues (e.g. fonts, visual issues) - I had a project recently where no matter what I tried, the Mac font versions just wouldn't come through on my main Windows machine so I had to resort to working via the Mac for the project.

 

Money/Cost isn't the issue, nor is subscription vs purchased outright. It's about feeling I can use a product for the same cost as others who in this case just happen to be single platform users with loads of computers versus my two computers (on two platforms). It just doesn't seem fair.

 

To all intents and purposes, no matter what others say about Win and Mac versions being two separate programs that each need funding separately by me to enable me to use both, I (as a user) consider them the same - e.g. If Affinity Designer is the vehicle, the tool, the solution I would choose to use for a job. It's irrelevant and doesn't matter to me what computer I use it on, I would just want to use that methodology for doing the job.

 

Alfred above said in response to my car analogy "If you paid for a BMW, I can't imagine you'd be very happy if the dealer supplied you with a Trabant instead!" - Buying two licenses isn't buying a BMW and in any case, if they both go from A to B then it makes no difference which I use.

 

That's my point - you're telling me that if I want to drive Affinity Photo or Designer on/in a BMW or a Trabant (e.g Mac/Win, or Win/Mac), then I have to hire and pay for both vehicles for the same journey. But if I hire ten BMWs or ten Trabants, then it's just one vehicle hire fee.

 

So, what would be a solution that would get me parting with my money? - Simple, allow two installs on any platform and here's my 2 x £48.95 (the UK price) with perhaps 10% off for buying both at once. Deal done, or it would have been so two days ago when I rediscovered Serif and the new Affinity product line but as soon as I hit the Buy Now button for one of the (Windows) products and I found I couldn't even add the second product at the same time, let alone find a bundle deal, I came to this forum instead, whereupon I immediately discover this thread and find I'd have to pay twice anyway with not even a cross-platform/cross-grade deal available.

 

So, there I was wanting to buy, I'd got to the golden "call to action" point of any sales aim and I'd hit that magical Buy Button, but instead was diverted off with questions and problems and I will probably never go back to that Buy Button. Customer lost.

 

For all I knew or care, the prices could have been £100 for each program, they'd still be good value, but practically I found couldn't buy both at the same time and for my bargain hunting mind-set and way of life, there was no bundle deal. Even with those things in place, the license/purchase would have to be cross-platform for me to consider it in the first place. That's three hurdles currently preventing buyers like me continuing with that Buy Button. Any one of those hurdles gets me moving away from a purchase, no matter what the price, subscription or free.

 

I'd go so far as to say, for a cross-platform solution and license purchase (especially when Affinity Publisher comes out), I'd be prepared to buy in to an AffinitySute1 annual subscription package for £100-£150 and than pay a 60% off renewal fee after the first year just to be part of, and support, the further development and updates. Anyone on existing deals and offers could be Grandfathered in for life and then everybody could be happy. 

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