[macsb] How do deal with Windows version not in sync with Mac version

[Rafael Bugajewski [e-mail] [macsb]]

Hi Trygve,

from a business point of view solution two sounds reasonable. IMHO it’s also the most direct way to map your costs to customer’s expenses.

Best,
Rafael

Our main product is available for both Mac and Windows - sort of.
I write the Mac version and another guy (who I hire), writes the Windows
version. We live 6,000 miles apart. Initially, version 4 and 5 were released
at the same time for both. We sold Mac keys and Windows keys separately, but
a 5-user version included keys for both.
Version 6 for Windows never happened (my developer's other job tied him up
for a couple years) so the 5-user version issued keys for Mac v6 and Windows
v5. Now we are releasing v7 for Mac and hopefully in about 2 months, v7 for
Windows.
1. Make the same key work for both Mac and Windows.
2. Keep the keys separate and eliminate the cross-platform 5 user deal.
3. Keep it as-is (and issue Mac v7 / Win v5 for a while).
With #1, if the versions are not in sync (as it is right now), I'd have to
issue two keys to everyone which is not ideal.
#2 sounds pretty good to me. We could then offer to sell the opposite
platform key at a steep discount if someone wanted both platforms.
Keep in mind Mac users outnumber Windows users 8 to 1.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Trygve
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[Steven Audette [e-mail] [macsb]]

Similar situation for Divvy by Mizage. They sell Win & Mac separately, but
offer a discounted bundle, and discounted cross-grade to purchase the other
platform. You might contact them if you have any specific questions.
https://store.mizage.com

Steve

Our main product is available for both Mac and Windows - sort of.
I write the Mac version and another guy (who I hire), writes the Windows
version. We live 6,000 miles apart. Initially, version 4 and 5 were
released
at the same time for both. We sold Mac keys and Windows keys separately,
but
a 5-user version included keys for both.
Version 6 for Windows never happened (my developer's other job tied him up
for a couple years) so the 5-user version issued keys for Mac v6 and
Windows
v5. Now we are releasing v7 for Mac and hopefully in about 2 months, v7 for
Windows.
1. Make the same key work for both Mac and Windows.
2. Keep the keys separate and eliminate the cross-platform 5 user deal.
3. Keep it as-is (and issue Mac v7 / Win v5 for a while).
With #1, if the versions are not in sync (as it is right now), I'd have to
issue two keys to everyone which is not ideal.
#2 sounds pretty good to me. We could then offer to sell the opposite
platform key at a steep discount if someone wanted both platforms.
Keep in mind Mac users outnumber Windows users 8 to 1.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Trygve

[Uli Kusterer [e-mail] [macsb]]

1. Make the same key work for both Mac and Windows.
2. Keep the keys separate and eliminate the cross-platform 5 user deal.
3. Keep it as-is (and issue Mac v7 / Win v5 for a while).
With #1, if the versions are not in sync (as it is right now), I'd have to
issue two keys to everyone which is not ideal.
#2 sounds pretty good to me. We could then offer to sell the opposite
platform key at a steep discount if someone wanted both platforms.
Keep in mind Mac users outnumber Windows users 8 to 1.

IIRC, we just started shipping keys for the new version to customers of the old version at a certain point in time at work, making the old (=current) version accept both new and old keys. Then when we released the new version, all customers who had bought recently enough were just able to use the new version. Since with our keys you can't really tell what version they're for from looking at them (They didn't start with ETV3 or whatever), nobody noticed, and had it been delayed too much, we could have just changed the keys again to get another cutoff, if it's been too long.

As to merging your keys: Depends on your situation. If you own the Windows code, sure, do that. If your Windows dev has equity in their code and could just decide to go it on their own, or you want to sell single licenses for each platform separately, then better have separate keys.

Cheers,
-- Uli Kusterer
"The Witnesses of TeachText are everywhere..."
http://stacksmith.org

[Uli Kusterer [e-mail] [macsb]]

2. Keep the keys separate and eliminate the cross-platform 5 user deal.

Oh wait, misread that. Of course just dropping that deal would work. But as I said, if you wanted to keep it, just make Win v5 accept Win v7 keys, and start selling the bundle with "upgrade to v7 included".

Cheers,
-- Uli Kusterer
"The Witnesses of TeachText are everywhere..."
http://stacksmith.org