Hi When logging into my account how come Im being offered an upgrade at a cost? Sure when I first bought my software it said FREE lifttime updates. If thats the case why am i getting a message to say my licence will expire in a couple of weeks?
As far as I know that has never been an option. When I bought the software it offered free updates for a year. There were then chargeable options to get this extended by 1 year, 2 year or lifetime. Note that if your license expires it does not mean tht you can no longer use the software - just that you are no longer eligible for updates.
[quote=itimpi]As far as I know that has never been an option. When I bought the software it offered free updates for a year. There were then chargeable options to get this extended by 1 year, 2 year or lifetime. Note that if your license expires it does not mean tht you can no longer use the software - just that you are no longer eligible for updates. [/quote
Well if I can still use the software that will do for me
And by this it means you can update the software on the Apple TV using the update in the maintenance menu but can no longer download the installer.
So, does that mean that when i buy a licence and after a year i decide te reinstall my ATV3 i would have to buy a new licence because of the versioncheck in the installer?
I think that’s the case. Old version installers won’t work if a new version is active.
This question comes up from time to time, so I’ll provide my two cents in an effort to clear things up.
The base aTV Flash (black) license includes updates for 1 year. There is an option to extend this out during the checkout process for an additional cost, which many people do take advantage of. This has been our model since mid-2008, and we think is the most fair approach to software license updates. Compare this model to say Parallels that typically releases a major update once per year in the Fall - if you purchase your license on release day the maximum possible update time you will see is about 1 year. If you were to purchase it in May, and they release an update in October, you’ve paid full price for less than 6 months of updates. Our time-based licensing model gives you AT LEAST 1 year of updates no matter what.
Another reason we chose the model licensing we did is that the Apple TV platform is relatively challenging to develop for in general. So in lieu of spending many hours to create complex licensing verification functions on the Apple TV we’ve decided to keep things simple and focus on the features people actually use. This essentially results in an honor system, and as a side effect provides a small opportunity for unauthorized use. We tend to believe in the inherent good in people, and that they will see the value in what we do and choose to support us by purchasing their own copy. However, this is not always the case and is part of the reason why old versions are deactivated.
Another core reason why old versions are deactivated is that during the install process a number of components will be added to the Apple TV. Some of these components are bundled with the installer itself, while others are downloaded from the web. In order to ensure things run smoothly as possible it’s best to always use the latest installer version. This is especially important when updating the Apple TV software, and will be even more critical once the ATV3 jailbreak becomes available.
At the end of the day we try our best to be fair, and be perceived as fair. With that said, I can make this promise: aTV Flash (black) will NEVER stop working for as long as you have it installed, and chances are you will be able to get a number of software updates even after your license has expired (this is done by updating via the Maintenance menu on the Apple TV).
Hope this helps.
please disregard