Mr. Donker,
I respect your opinions and positions. I am a senior consultant in the Construction / IT project management space. My firm is quite aware of what is called "Investment Protection" clauses in many purchase agreements that companies are pushing out to software vendors. The argument posed by my clients is that they cannot afford to wait for new technology to be available before making improvements in business processes or project health. Therefore, they make the purchase now with the clause in the purchase agreements to protect the investment in one way or another through upgrades when they are available.
My firm is also an authorized reseller for some of the most powerful project management applications in the world. We sell these applications with a one-year guarantee of free upgrades when new versions are released within 12 months of purchase. This is because we realize the major investments that customers place in their infrastructure and business models and the customer's desire to protect their investment for ROI, IRR and NPV purposes.
Microsoft does offer investment protection benefits for operating systems purchased within 9 months of the release date for new operating systems. The same is true for their productivity tools. The way to get these benefits is to contact customer support with the purchase details and they will guide the customer to send in copies of receipts, disk documents and so forth. I have successfully done this on my personal computers and work machines.
As for DMX, I recognize that this is not a major investment, per se. And, I do appreciate your clarification that there is a discount on the upgraded version for a limited time. It is greatly appreciated. I wish you well in your future development work on a fabulous product.
With Regards,
Christopher Stimpson
Sr. Project Consultant