Mac/Windows License

[imfastrnu2]

I've read in several places that I'd need to buy a separate license for Mac and Windows. Personally I think this is a poor business practice.

 

In my particular case, I work on a Mac in my office and Windows at home. If I wanted Designer, Photo and the upcoming layout program, I'd essentially have to buy SIX programs to get three. Sure, I'm getting the shaft with Adobe, but at least I'm able to use the same license on more than one computer and more than one operating system.

 

Please consider working on a way for potential customers to have the ability to work cross platform without having to spend money unnecessarily.

 

Thank you.

[toltec]

Mac and PC versions are marketed and sold by completely different companies.

 

Would you expect to go to a cinema and then get a free DVD  or get a free Netflix download too? Yet the films was made by the same directors, same actors.

 

Business these days is a bit more complicated than the barter system

 

What's more Serif allow you to run three copies (or more on a PC) with their license.  Not sure about the Mac.

 

If you think you are better off with Adobe, well, bend over and enjoy 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alfred]

31 minutes ago, toltec said:

What's more Serif allow you to run three copies (or more on a PC) with their license.  Not sure about the Mac.

 

For both the Mac and the Windows versions of an Affinity app, a single licence permits the licensee to install and run the app on as many computers as he or she owns or controls, as long as the licensee is the only one using that app for commercial purposes.

 

[imfastrnu2]

i never said I was better off with Adobe, in fact I want to get away from Adobe and their price gouging!

 

But here is a simple fact: If YOU buy Affinity for Windows for $49.95, you are allowed to put that on THREE of your PC's all for the same price. But because I have one PC and one Mac, I must pay $99.90 to run it on TWO computers. (essentially 6 but I've paid twice as much just for two)

 

That makes no sense, I don't care what anyone says.

 

P.S. The barter system has nothing to do with this, this type of business is not that complicated. Many other companies sell Mac/Windows versions of their software without forcing you to buy it twice.

[Alfred]

7 minutes ago, imfastrnu2 said:

Many other companies sell Mac/Windows versions of their software without forcing you to buy it twice.

 

A company can only do that if they sell both versions direct. The Mac versions of the Affinity apps are sold exclusively through the Mac App Store, and since Apple (quite rightly!) don't share their MAS customer data with other vendors there's no way for Serif to verify that you have purchased a licence for the Mac version of their software.

 

[R C-R]

6 minutes ago, imfastrnu2 said:

But here is a simple fact: If YOU buy Affinity for Windows for $49.95, you are allowed to put that on THREE of your PC's all for the same price. But because I have one PC and one Mac, I must pay $99.90 to run it on TWO computers. (essentially 6 but I've paid twice as much just for two)

Nope. As @Alfred said, the per platform Affinity licenses are not limited to three computers. Yes, you have to pay more than users who only use one platform, but it should be fairly obvious that if it was practical for Serif to offer a cross-platform license (which it is not for the reasons already mentioned), they could not sell it for the same low price as the per platform versions.

 

As it is, users pay only for the version(s) they need, resulting in low prices for everyone.

[toltec]

3 minutes ago, imfastrnu2 said:

 

That makes no sense, I don't care what anyone says.

 

Well, the marketing strategy makes sense to me. Maybe I'm faster 

 

As I said, if a Hollywood film company makes a film, they can't market it, put it on in a cinema, operate a Netflix type streaming service and broadcast on TV. Yet that is normal business practice. 

 

So, they operate licenses, letting specialists market in their own ways, each taking a share of the income. It is just business. Have you ever been to a cinema and watched Netflix or something. One fee ? I don't think so.

 

To me, having a Mac at work and a PC at home is stranger. You are bound to run into this sort of problem all the time. Microsoft, Corel, Quark and virtually every software company I have ever known don't allow cross platform use. In fact many, like Cyberlink or Movavi only allow you to run one instance of their software, With activation. 

 

 

 

 

 

[imfastrnu2]

3 minutes ago, Alfred said:

 

A company can only do that if they sell both versions direct. The Mac versions of the Affinity apps are sold exclusively through the Mac App Store, and since Apple (quite rightly!) don't share their MAS customer data with other vendors there's no way for Serif to verify that you have purchased a licence for the Mac version of their software.

 

 

I think that is the thing that's frustrating here. Apple! They're just like Adobe!

I'm guessing here, but I suspect when Affinity started selling their software through the App Store the signed a contract saying something to the affect that they couldn't sell their OWN product on their own website. Putting people with mixed operating systems in a quandary.

[imfastrnu2]

1 minute ago, toltec said:

 

Well, the marketing strategy makes sense to me. Maybe I'm faster 

 

As I said, if a Hollywood film company makes a film, they can't market it, put it on in a cinema, operate a Netflix type streaming service and broadcast on TV. Yet that is normal business practice. 

 

So, they operate licenses, letting specialists market in their own ways, each taking a share of the income. It is just business. Have you ever been to a cinema and watched Netflix or something. One fee ? I don't think so.

 

To me, having a Mac at work and a PC at home is stranger. You are bound to run into this sort of problem all the time. Microsoft, Corel, Quark and virtually every software company I have ever known don't allow cross platform use. In fact many, like Cyberlink or Movavi only allow you to run one instance of their software, With activation. 

 

 

 

 

 

I have run into very few issues with software designed for both Mac and PC. The majority cross platform nicely.

Having a Mac and PC is not strange...it's a brave new world. Some can operate both, and for whatever reasons led them there, own both.

[toltec]

Just now, imfastrnu2 said:

I have run into very few issues with software designed for both Mac and PC. The majority cross platform nicely.

 

What, cross platform licenses?. Things have moved on since my day.

[imfastrnu2]

23 minutes ago, Alfred said:

 

For both the Mac and the Windows versions of an Affinity app, a single licence permits the licensee to install and run the app on as many computers as he or she owns or controls, as long as the licensee is the only one using that app for commercial purposes.

 

Alfred, this explanation makes the most sense to me. Financially, Affinity can not give a license out to people who run both platforms with unlimited seating. Makes perfect sense.

 

When I originally posted this, I was under the belief that they limited the seats to two or possibly three. If that were the case, people with both a Mac and a PC were at a disadvantage, financially; because they would have to buy it twice (because of the different license keys) to have a legal copy on both machines whereas the owners of either all PC's or all Mac's would only have to buy once because of the same license key). That is the only point I was trying to make. Unlimited for either platform though? Yeah, the price is more than fair.

 

Thank you.