How much to upgrade from V7R2 to Latest?

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blandry
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 6:02 am

How much to upgrade from V7R2 to Latest?

Postby blandry » Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:54 am

We currently have a one-developer license for InstallAware 7 R2 and my boss investigated upgrading to the latest version (9?) of Developer Studio by doing a Google search. After he saw the $2,000 cost, and fainted, we got him up off the floor and told him he must be wrong.

Can you verify that the cost is $2,000 ($1,999) to upgrade?!?!? I like the product, but the support has been mediocre at best, and version 7 does not appear to have any Service Packs to bring us up to .NET 4.0 and the latest technologies. Please tell me we dont have to cough up that kind of money every year or so just to stay current.

CandiceJones
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Re: How much to upgrade from V7R2 to Latest?

Postby CandiceJones » Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:57 pm

That's definitely not true :)

Please visit www.installaware.com/buydirect.asp

Choose your edition and you are eligible for the 50% instant upgrade discount - so for the Studio version, that'd be prices starting from $999...

Tell your boss that :D
Candice Jones
InstallAware
Home of The Next Generation MSI Installer
Get your free copy today - http://www.installaware.com/

blandry
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 6:02 am

Re: How much to upgrade from V7R2 to Latest?

Postby blandry » Thu Jun 17, 2010 1:12 pm

OK, well said Candice!

I will go shame the boss on that one - and thanks for the opportunity!!!

All the best!

CandiceJones
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Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2005 7:03 pm
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Re: How much to upgrade from V7R2 to Latest?

Postby CandiceJones » Thu Jun 17, 2010 2:39 pm

Take it easy on him! 8)
Candice Jones

InstallAware

Home of The Next Generation MSI Installer

Get your free copy today - http://www.installaware.com/

bokkie
Posts: 767
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:30 am

Re: How much to upgrade from V7R2 to Latest?

Postby bokkie » Fri Jun 18, 2010 2:23 am

Blandry,

Tell him that if he thinks that IA's cost of ownership is expensive then remind him of the alternative. Also, if he thinks you can get away with using now't but XCOPY then ask him how XCOPY helps when it comes to installing prerequisites, patches, registry updates, blah-blah-blah? IA makes it all very simple and for its cost of a licence, is there anything better? The answer, in short, is no.
Peter. Smartly dressed, he still resembles an unmade bed.
InstallAware MVP

blandry
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 6:02 am

Re: How much to upgrade from V7R2 to Latest?

Postby blandry » Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:08 am

Bokkie,

Is there anything better? Well, be careful there... At one point in the past, this company used to use Installer2Go, which is a nifty little package and its cost is Zero dollars (its free). Its not as powerful or quite as feature-rich as IA, but its not a bad package. None the less, we talked the boss into IA a couple years ago and thats where we all (developers) want to stay.

Sadly for us, what makes the boss so darn trepidatious these days is that we are a Crystal Reports licenced user and that mess of an application has cost us a small fortune in both dollars, and the bosses trust of any software vendor. You pay a ton for Crystal, its lousy, and their support is about as useful as an anchor when youre drowning at sea! That experience has soured every request we developers make for outside purchases since we got the train-wreck that is Crystal.

But so far we have been able to push him into requesting funding from our corporate parent for the latest IA version - so hopefully it wont take the official bean counters too long to come up with the dough, and we will get up to date.

And for the record, we think IA is a great package, pretty well documented, and the support has been pretty good - maybe you guys should buy up Crystal Reports cause SAP simply continues to make a mess of it... (Sorry, just wishing...)

bokkie
Posts: 767
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:30 am

Re: How much to upgrade from V7R2 to Latest?

Postby bokkie » Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:20 am

Crystal reports, eh? I'm really very, very sorry to hear about that. I remember using that way back when at a time when it was quite lightweight and it worked reasonably well. The years have obviously not been kind to it. As for anchors; I've had my fair share of those as well :)

Sorry to say, I never came across Installer2Go. I intended no offence. :)

Like another forum member recently wrote, there was a time when I was InstallShield-Damaged and my previous company threw a wobbly when I told them about their licence renewal. I was asked to look for something alternative (read cheaper) and that's when I came across IA. I downloaded the trial version and I was bitten big-time by what IA could do. I had a bit of a run-in with the purchasing department where the bean counters resided. After arguing the toss with them and several presentations later with project teams, I convinced the company to go with the superior product. IA was used to do the builds which was a much easier process and less prone to delivery errors compared to using Damage 2008. It's a pity many bosses fail to see what life is like at the coalface. Perhaps they did once and forget now. As you've seen already, IA does most things I ever wanted or expected an installation designer to do. For sure, some parts of the IDE may look a little like Damage but there's a big difference between copying something and doing something right. I hope all goes well with your "promotion" to the IA9 major league.
Peter. Smartly dressed, he still resembles an unmade bed.
InstallAware MVP

blandry
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 6:02 am

Re: How much to upgrade from V7R2 to Latest?

Postby blandry » Wed Jun 23, 2010 11:47 am

Funny you should mention InstallSheild because it suffers from the exact same problem that Crystal Reports suffers from...

Software that through good versions, should have stopped "improving" itself because it improved itself right into uselessness and frustration. Both products are like trying to use the Space Shuttle to go one mile down a road - huge cost, and you have to travel miles into space to come back to earth to go a short distance - never mind talking about landing the darn thing!

Installer2Go (and its 'sister' product Setup2Go) are nice little install generators that are very well-done and would be very useful say, to independant developers who dont want to do too much out of the ordinary. They are decent and good products, just not quite enough for our corporate uses.

But, for the record, we are VERY happy with IA - it is an extremely well-done application and in my decades in the business, the best installer app I have seen. My cudo's to IA!

Now, convincing the boss, then the corporate folks that we need an upgrade is well - like it always is - kind of like asking Mom and Dad for an extra weekly allowance. But true to that form, we have been whining about it now long enough that eventually, they will give us the okay just to shut us up! (pretty much the usual way things get done in huge corporations...)

Cudos again, stay well!


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