How did you conclude that the software is being sold without support? You don't need "Software Assurance" to post on the forum and get help straight from the Altium programmers, and you don't need it to get the patches which are automatic via the web (or can also be manually downloaded and installed if desired). The CEO of the company has personally gone on written record that patches would continue to be provided as part of the purchase price of the program, and would not be subject to separate charges. You don't have to buy "Software Assurance" unless you want it - I didn't choose to buy it when I sent in my purchase order for AD6 in December 2005.
"Software Assurance" gets you telephone support, and guarantees you will get the next major upgrade without having to buy it at whatever the prevailing price may be at the time. This is the same as other EDA packages at a significantly lower price than some (ask a Cadence rep for the annual maintenance cost on Allegro and ConceptHDL). It is also worth noting that you MUST buy maintenance on the other big EDA packages to keep your license current - Altium can be used for the rest of your life without buying a maintenance program. With regard to the bugs, did it occur to you that the software has been in the hands of thousands of users for about 3 months? Before that, it was in the hands of Beta Testers for over two months. In that five months NOBODY noticed or reported that ODB++ output was missing vias on inner layers. How important could that feature be to users if it went 5 months without being noticed and reported - or perhaps the "bug" is specific to an odd hardware/software environment that has only recently surfaced? There are a multitude of similar "bugs" being reported - important to a few, or only experienced by a few, but not significant or noticed by the bulk of users. I can personally assure you that the other EDA companies DO NOT rush patches out to the users. Just read the "Outstanding Issues" document included with Mentor or Cadence updates, and compare them with those from a year ago (or three years ago). You might also want to try and fight your way through the phone tree at their companies to get an answer on a problem - it's like trying to call the Internal Revenue Service (for those in the USA). I fault Altium for not publishing a price schedule, but I believe I understand their problem/rational. There are now many 'flavors' of AD - node locked license, floating license, network license, core, fpga, etc. The software is more tightly controlled in regions of the world that have traditionally stolen Protel/AD software in large numbers in the past - hence the higher price and availability of only node locked licenses in those regions. Prices vary according to exchange rates, market demand, etc. There are lots of market driven variables for the company manipulate to try and squeeze out a profit (something we all have to do to stay in business). The impending price increase was announced at the end of November 2005. It is hardly a surprise - unless you consider it a surprise that they waited until now to do what they said they would do at the beginning of the year. I asked for, and received a written quote from the San Diego, California, Altium office in December. It clearly stated that the maintenance cost was a separate line entry, and it clearly stated that prices would increase after the first of the year. I've been producing 18-20 layer, 12-14in, 2K-4K pin, high speed boards with AD6 since December. There are occasional problems with the software, but the new update procedure is smoothing out the bumps. The ones that can be bypassed while we wait for patches have been addressed by the Altium staff on the forum. In my opinion, AD has become much more productive than earlier versions, and can be customized to a degree impossible to match with other EDA software. It is 'hands down' the best EDA package on the market for interactive manual routing - it retains, and improves on, the interactive routing capabilities of earlier Protel/Altium packages. I realize that you folks who want to be angry are going to seize on everything you can find to justify you anger. I use Cadence, Mentor, and Altium products - and have for many years. Of those, I prefer Altium for its support and simplicity. I don't have to fight Altium software to do my designs, and I can get answers from Altium staff just by posting a message on the forum. I dread the days when I have to return to using Allegro or PADS. They just aren't as much fun to use. Harry Selfridge VP Engineering Encore Engineering Services and Products Anaheim, CA 92801 At 05:19 PM 3/17/2006, you wrote: >Well guys, > There is some truth to the stories that have been slowly > spreading amongst us. Below is a cut & paste from the Email that I > just received this afternoon. You will note that on 4/1/06 the > price increases and DOES NOT include even the first year of Software > Assurance. > > So they are selling their buggy, non working software > without any support, upgrades or assurances. Yeah, that will go > far, before the wheels fall off! I guess they need to raise the > price to account for the legal fees they will be needing to cover > all the lawsuits that will result from disgruntled customers when > they discover the buggy/non-working features that they had been > assured were included in the features. > > Also note that what they sold just 2 months ago for the > $3495 included full FPGA support, now they have taken out the FPGA > tools from this offer but the price still goes up on April 1st. > April 1st? That's it, it must be an early April Fools joke! Or > anybody who buys in is the April Fool? The latter being most likely. > > Notice also that it is stating that the Software assurance > is presently listed at $1795. Aren't a bunch of you saying $1500? I > know it was $1500, maybe some of you were just referring to the > last price you had heard or been quoted rather than different > prices actually being quoted around right now? > >Sincerely, >Brad Velander >Senior PCB Designer >Northern Airborne Technology >#14 - 1925 Kirschner Road, >Kelowna, BC, V1Y 4N7. >tel (250) 763-2329 ext. 225 >fax (250) 762-3374 > > >Received via email March 17th 2006, approx. 4:00PM PST. > > >-- Now the price is $3495 and still includes a free year of software >assurance (which lists for $1795). However, until the end of March >we are again offering the software for $2,995, however, this would >not include the FPPGA and Embedded Software part of the tool. Also, >until the end of the month (3/31/06), we are offering 2 three hour >web based training sessions (valued at $590) to help you make the >move to Altium Designer 6.0. > >-- On 4/1/06 the price increases to $3995 and does not include >software assurance or the web based training. This is an increase of $2890. > >I look forward to speaking with you. > >Best regards, > >XXX XXXXXXXXXXXX >Sales Representative >_________________ >Altium, Inc >North America Sales and Support >Blah, blah, blah, blah. > > > >____________________________________________________________ >You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum > >To Post messages: >mailto:[email protected] > >Unsubscribe and Other Options: >http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com > >Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): >http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > >Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): >http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] ____________________________________________________________ You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum To Post messages: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe and Other Options: http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
