Comments

emmrecs wrote on 5/25/2022, 4:06 AM

@Carlton-Munday

Welcome to the Magix user to user forums.

Exactly which product do you have? You have posted to the Video Pro X area of the Video forums but your mention of Xara makes me suspect this is not the correct area for your post.

However, did you continue to renew your Update Service when its original twelve months period was over? If not, and you need to reinstall your software (for any reason) the version you can install is the one that you originally purchased, without any upgrades to any later versions. You should still be able to access any updates to version 17 but your upgrade to version 18 will become available to you again only if you choose to now renew that Update Service, sorry.

Jeff
Forum Moderator

Last changed by emmrecs on 5/25/2022, 4:08 AM, changed a total of 1 times.

Win 10 Pro 64 bit, Intel i7 Quad Core 6700K @ 4GHz, 32 GB RAM, NVidia GTX 1660TI and Intel HD530 Graphics, MOTU 8-Pre f/w audio interface, VPX, MEP, Music Maker, PhotoStory Deluxe, Photo Manager Deluxe, Xara 3D Maker 7, Samplitude Pro X7 Suite, Reaper, Adobe Audition 3, CS6 and CC, 2 x Canon HG10 cameras, 1 x Canon EOS 600D, Akaso EK7000 Pro Action Cam

Carlton-Munday wrote on 5/25/2022, 7:20 PM

How exactly is this fair when you have paid money to upgrade the original product in my case Xara Pro? The previous 9 or so original versions I purchased were all upgrades from the previous. No other company takes away paid upgrades from their customers. So you're saying the last $100 + I paid for the upgrade was just throwing money away? Thanks for the heads up as I have Vegas and Sound Forge along with a few others under a different email that I won't bother upgrading any further.

CubeAce wrote on 5/25/2022, 7:50 PM

@Carlton-Munday

Hi.

It is only recently that Magix changed their policy slightly. It used to be you only got the version you paid for minus any patches brought out after the paid update date. Now you get all patches for the version you payed for.

That way at least you get the version with the least amount of un-patched bugs. The idea of giving you the new release in the current period of your latest purchase is to encourage the user to renew their update service if they like the new version. Better and more fully functional than having to download a demo of a new version.

There are two ways of looking at things. Yes it sucks from a consumer viewpoint but is a more solid business model and the terms and conditions are in the end user licence agreement. You have to remember no-one owns any software. You own a licence to use the software. It is always best to check what that licence entails before purchase. This is why you have no right to reverse engineer or use parts of the program such as images or audio supplied within a program for other uses than those intended by the end user licence agreement.

The question of fairness is a good one.

I worry about my car more than my programs on my computer as I don't own the software that runs my car either.

I checked.

Ray.

 

 

Windows 10 Enterprise. Version 22H2 OS build 19045.5011

Direct X 12.1 latest hardware updates for Western Digital hard drives.

Asus ROG STRIX Z390-F Gaming motherboard Rev 1.xx with Supreme FX inboard audio using the S1220A code. Driver No 6.0.8960.1 Bios version 1401

Intel i9900K Coffee Lake 3.6 to 5.1GHz CPU with Intel UHD 630 Graphics .Driver version Graphics Driver 31.0.101.2130 for 7th-10th Gen Intel® with 64GB of 3200MHz Corsair DDR4 ram.

1000 watt EVGA modular power supply.

1 x 250GB Evo 970 NVMe: drive for C: drive backup 1 x 1TB Sabrent NVMe drive for Operating System / Programs only. 1X WD BLACK 1TB internal SATA 7,200rpm hard drives.1 for internal projects, 1 for Library clips/sounds/music/stills./backup of working projects. 1x500GB SSD current project only drive, 2x WD RED 2TB drives for latest footage storage. Total 21TB of 8 external WD drives for backup.

ASUS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB. nVidia Studio driver version 560.81 - 3584xCUDA cores Direct X 12.1. Memory interface 192bit Memory bandwidth 360.05GB/s 12GB of dedicated GDDR6 video memory, shared system memory 16307MB PCi Express x8 Gen3. Two Samsung 27" LED SA350 monitors with 5000000:1 contrast ratios at 60Hz.

Running MMS 2024 Suite v 23.0.1.182 (UDP3) and VPX 14 - v20.0.3.180 (UDP3)

M Audio Axiom AIR Mini MIDI keyboard Ver 5.10.0.3507

VXP 14, MMS 2024 Suite, Vegas Studio 16, Vegas Pro 18, Cubase 4. CS6, NX Studio, Mixcraft 9 Recording Studio. Mixcraft Pro 10 Studio.

Audio System 5 x matched bi-wired 150 watt Tannoy Reveal speakers plus one Tannoy 15" 250 watt sub with 5.1 class A amplifier. Tuned to room with Tannoy audio application.

Ram Acoustic Studio speakers amplified by NAD amplifier.

Rogers LS7 speakers run from Cambridge Audio P50 amplifier

Schrodinger's Backup. "The condition of any backup is unknown until a restore is attempted."

Carlton-Munday wrote on 5/25/2022, 8:12 PM

From the business model of maximizing company profit, sure the chosen model works. From the business model of customer satisfaction I would say that it does not work. If the customer is unhappy they will never pay money for a service that takes away from their satisfaction. I have been a Xara customer for many years and now I can't even reinstall the software without loosing what I paid for. I paid for a year of updates regardless of how many. The entire point of paying for an upgrade service is to cover all the updates that occur during a set period of time. Company semantics aside. Just the magnitude of similar posts that I've read on the matter show that this is a flawed practice.

CubeAce wrote on 5/26/2022, 1:46 AM

@Carlton-Munday

You do have my sympathy as a user and I'm sure there are more than a few others here that have felt and possibly still feel the same way. I myself wrote a similar question here on the forums the first time that happened to me as I had not read the EULA either before purchase. Things had changed since the days I purchased my software from a local shop.

The business model of a majority of companies has now changed over time. Software companies more so. Personally I am relieved that Magix has not yet decided to go to a subscription based only model and have openly said that they intend never to do so. I hope so as more and more companies turn to that way of supplying software. The customer base has also changed a great deal. Customer loyalty is mainly a minority support base among older users. Subscription models with added benefits are seemingly more attractive to a younger and growing customer base. Enough people are born in the world now to replenish old customers if they leave or simply don't bother to renew.

The subscription model gives a more steady income stream all be it slightly smaller each month which allows companies to plan their business models with more confidence.

There are lots of niggles associated with using software in general. Like realising opening a very old project will probably mean it doesn't work as older codecs and plugin effects become inactive or missing in newer versions or are replaced with newer versions that are not recognised by the newer software.

The other is realising the newer software does not run as well as the previous software due to the increased demand on one's own computer being older than it was and may even be no longer compatible.

So for one I do sympathise with you learning the nature of the agreement you signed up to but now you have to decide whether it is worth renewing to get some functionality back that perhaps is now missing or call it a day with that software and look somewhere else.

I wish you the best regardless of which choice of action you choose to take.

Ray.

 

Windows 10 Enterprise. Version 22H2 OS build 19045.5011

Direct X 12.1 latest hardware updates for Western Digital hard drives.

Asus ROG STRIX Z390-F Gaming motherboard Rev 1.xx with Supreme FX inboard audio using the S1220A code. Driver No 6.0.8960.1 Bios version 1401

Intel i9900K Coffee Lake 3.6 to 5.1GHz CPU with Intel UHD 630 Graphics .Driver version Graphics Driver 31.0.101.2130 for 7th-10th Gen Intel® with 64GB of 3200MHz Corsair DDR4 ram.

1000 watt EVGA modular power supply.

1 x 250GB Evo 970 NVMe: drive for C: drive backup 1 x 1TB Sabrent NVMe drive for Operating System / Programs only. 1X WD BLACK 1TB internal SATA 7,200rpm hard drives.1 for internal projects, 1 for Library clips/sounds/music/stills./backup of working projects. 1x500GB SSD current project only drive, 2x WD RED 2TB drives for latest footage storage. Total 21TB of 8 external WD drives for backup.

ASUS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB. nVidia Studio driver version 560.81 - 3584xCUDA cores Direct X 12.1. Memory interface 192bit Memory bandwidth 360.05GB/s 12GB of dedicated GDDR6 video memory, shared system memory 16307MB PCi Express x8 Gen3. Two Samsung 27" LED SA350 monitors with 5000000:1 contrast ratios at 60Hz.

Running MMS 2024 Suite v 23.0.1.182 (UDP3) and VPX 14 - v20.0.3.180 (UDP3)

M Audio Axiom AIR Mini MIDI keyboard Ver 5.10.0.3507

VXP 14, MMS 2024 Suite, Vegas Studio 16, Vegas Pro 18, Cubase 4. CS6, NX Studio, Mixcraft 9 Recording Studio. Mixcraft Pro 10 Studio.

Audio System 5 x matched bi-wired 150 watt Tannoy Reveal speakers plus one Tannoy 15" 250 watt sub with 5.1 class A amplifier. Tuned to room with Tannoy audio application.

Ram Acoustic Studio speakers amplified by NAD amplifier.

Rogers LS7 speakers run from Cambridge Audio P50 amplifier

Schrodinger's Backup. "The condition of any backup is unknown until a restore is attempted."

Carlton-Munday wrote on 5/27/2022, 12:24 PM

@Carlton-Munday

You do have my sympathy as a user and I'm sure there are more than a few others here that have felt and possibly still feel the same way. I myself wrote a similar question here on the forums the first time that happened to me as I had not read the EULA either before purchase. Things had changed since the days I purchased my software from a local shop.

The business model of a majority of companies has now changed over time. Software companies more so. Personally I am relieved that Magix has not yet decided to go to a subscription based only model and have openly said that they intend never to do so. I hope so as more and more companies turn to that way of supplying software. The customer base has also changed a great deal. Customer loyalty is mainly a minority support base among older users. Subscription models with added benefits are seemingly more attractive to a younger and growing customer base. Enough people are born in the world now to replenish old customers if they leave or simply don't bother to renew.

The subscription model gives a more steady income stream all be it slightly smaller each month which allows companies to plan their business models with more confidence.

There are lots of niggles associated with using software in general. Like realising opening a very old project will probably mean it doesn't work as older codecs and plugin effects become inactive or missing in newer versions or are replaced with newer versions that are not recognised by the newer software.

The other is realising the newer software does not run as well as the previous software due to the increased demand on one's own computer being older than it was and may even be no longer compatible.

So for one I do sympathise with you learning the nature of the agreement you signed up to but now you have to decide whether it is worth renewing to get some functionality back that perhaps is now missing or call it a day with that software and look somewhere else.

I wish you the best regardless of which choice of action you choose to take.

Ray.

Thanks for the reply CubeAce, very insightful. I've seen a good many changes working in the graphics industry for years. I know a good many companies that switched from Adobe when they went subscription based. I suppose that all things considered the Magix model is at least better than "renting" the software. Cheers.