Trial Reset

[mayamaniac]

After reading this post about the new OSX beta version, this sentence from the post caught my attention:

The beta download has a 30 day trial on it. we plan to have the release version ready within 30 days. If for some reason we do not get it out in time; we'll reset the trial in the beta version.

I remember back a couple of years ago when I first tried SageTV for the first time using the 15 day trial, I was having many issues and trying to solve the problems with tech support (George). After multiple email exchanges with George, the problems were still not resolved and the 15 trial period had ended. I asked George to give me a trial extension and he said there was no way to do so. He said I had to reformat the OS and reinstall SageTV trial. Of course, this was unacceptable and there was no way I'm reinstalling the OS, so I just bit the bullet and purchased SageTV.

Fortunately, the problems were resolved with later versions and my money wasn't wasted. But I think for a complicated software like SageTV, 15 days is too short of a trial period. I think you need at least 30 days like most other trial softwares. I don't know the coding behind SageTV between OSX and Windows versions, but if possible and apparent it is, please make this core change so new users will have more time to thoroughly test the software before purchasing.

[nielm]

I agree that 15 days is a bit short, but I think the problem with longer trials was that it makes it too easy for a malicious user to ghost their drive before the Sage install, and restore the image once every 30 days...

Trial periods on the windows version are reset when a new version is released (I guess the trial system is linked to the version number), if the Mac version is similar then I guess they will simply release a new beta version to reset the trial..

I doubt that a simple 'reset trial period' code exists, because it would be like gold dust on the warez scene!

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by nielm

I agree that 15 days is a bit short, but I think the problem with longer trials was that it makes it too easy for a malicious user to ghost their drive before the Sage install, and restore the image once every 30 days...

Yup, I thought that with a 30 day trial, it started getting to the point that monthy image restores a month would almost be doable, but that a 15 day trial made it unfeasable. But then I saw a user on the forum admitting that he was doing ghost restores every 15 days to keep his trial Sage running, for a year IIRC.

Trial periods on the windows version are reset when a new version is released (I guess the trial system is linked to the version number), if the Mac version is similar then I guess they will simply release a new beta version to reset the trial..

That would be my guess as well.

[sainswor99]

As I recall, the MVP used to bounce the words "trial edition" around the screen while watching a recording; the nice thing about that sort of crippleware is that it lets you resolve technical issues with the software without worry of a time limit. Not sure if that's technically feasible during the recording process, but might be a way to extend the time limit without worrying about a few "ghosting" folks.

[derelicte1]

Originally Posted by sainswor99

As I recall, the MVP used to bounce the words "trial edition" around the screen while watching a recording; the nice thing about that sort of crippleware is that it lets you resolve technical issues with the software without worry of a time limit. Not sure if that's technically feasible during the recording process, but might be a way to extend the time limit without worrying about a few "ghosting" folks.

it still does.

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by derelicte1

it still does.

Then you should finally get around to buying the license key.
(Sorry, couldn't resist)