Software Upgrades

[seaeric]

When you purchase SageTV, are you entitled to future upgrades? or do you have to pay for an updated version?

Thanks,
Eric

[Kev]

Originally Posted by seaeric

When you purchase SageTV, are you entitled to future upgrades? or do you have to pay for an updated version?

Thanks,
Eric

Before version 6, there were no upgrade fees, but now there are. So expect to pay for upgrades in the future, and don't expect support on anything but the latest version. In my experience, support has been to tell me to buy the next version of sage.

[seaeric]

Bummer. Is there going to be a discounted upgrade price? or do you have to pay full retail? BeyondTV has a discount price for upgrades. Seems to me that companies would learn the nickle and diming people isn't always the best business plan

[blade]

Originally Posted by seaeric

Bummer. Is there going to be a discounted upgrade price? or do you have to pay full retail? BeyondTV has a discount price for upgrades. Seems to me that companies would learn the nickle and diming people isn't always the best business plan

Sage hasn't charged for upgrades until v6 came out. Before then upgrades had been free. So it's not like Sage has been "nickle and diming" people. Point releases will continue to be free and they will charge for version releases. According to Sage they'll be charging due to the additional features added. The upgrade to v6 was the first time anyone has paid for an upgrade so there isn't a history to compare it to. There was a limited time upgrade fee of $29.99, but the normal upgrade fee is $39.99. You only need to upgrade the server software all the clients and placeshifter license can be upgraded for free. So basically $39.99 will cover your entire Sage setup regardless of how many clients you have.

As for the support of previous versions Sage has said they will continue to provide support, but it doesn't appear there will be anymore releases.

[seaeric]

I can't speak to their history as a new user, but I agree that if they hadn't charged people in the past, thats a good sign. In the future, if they want to charge a discounted upgrade fee for "real" upgrades, I am totally fine with that. Not based on my experience with SageTV, I am just skeptical with how software companies tend to over value their "upgrades" and then lead you down the nickel and dime path for simple fixes to existing software. Hopefully their historical practices will be an example of how they do future business

[blade]

I agree, what matters is how they handle things now that they are charging for upgrades. There were quite a few new features and a revamping of the music and imported video section for V6. One of my favorite new features was the built in transcoding.

There has been talk of a HD extender for quite some time. I would assume that will be part of a future version release. I know it would be a very good reason for me to pay for an upgrade.

[Keenan]

So I understand, I have a licensed/paid for, Ver 5.

I've downloaded the following two files and loaded the and everything seems to work fine.

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/downloa...?do=file&id=84
SageTV Community

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...?do=file&id=36
SageTV Community

Am I now using Ver 6? Does it require a new license? I'm a bit confused by all the available downloads. If there's an area that explains how are these are associated I would be very interested in seeing.

[nielm]

Originally Posted by Keenan

Am I now using Ver 6? Does it require a new license? I'm a bit confused by all the available downloads. If there's an area that explains how are these are associated I would be very interested in seeing.

the 'download' and customisation forums section is for user-developed alternate user interfaces/skins for Sage. you have downloaded v6 of one of these (the SageMC skin)

If you want to try the new v6 beta of the Sage *product*, go to the beta test forum and there will be a sticky at the top.

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by nielm

you have downloaded v6 of one of these (the SageMC skin)

Actually, these were downloads of SageMC versions for SageTV 5.x


Dirk

[blade]

I should have stated before that my comments on the upgrade policy are my interpretation of the last statement made about upgrades by Sage. I think many others have interpreted it the same way, but no one knows for certain so we're all just speculating.

I just wanted you to be prepared to occasionally pay for upgrades instead of being suprised down the road. I do think Sage will continue to provide fair upgrades whether they charge for every version, every few versions, or every few years.

[Keenan]

Okay, so I'm still using Ver 5, but with customizations/skins that can also be used with Ver 6?

IOW, to be at Ver 6, I need to DL the Ver 6 beta referenced above? And in my case, a paid/licensed Ver 5, do I need to purchase another license/key to be "legal" with Ver 6?

<edit> Okay, I see where it's explained in the following link,

Hopefully, everyone will understand we are trying to be more generous than is typical for the software industry by giving free upgrades to Version 6 for Version 5 customers.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20299
Important Version 6 Upgrade Information - SageTV Community

And since my Ver 5 was downloaded after 9/18 I'm go to good, no additional license or charges?

[blade]

Originally Posted by Keenan

And since my Ver 5 was downloaded after 9/18 I'm go to good, no additional license or charges?

I don't know what the actual date was, but if you purchased Sage and got a v5 license then no you don't need anything else.

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by blade

I don't know what the actual date was, but if you purchased Sage and got a v5 license then no you don't need anything else.

Thanks for the confirmation. The date I referred to was at the bottom of the Sage upgrade page, although at the moment, I can't find it to provide a link.