What's brewing...

[Mario]

I'm now (unbelievable!) in the final phase of actually shipping IMatch 5.

I have added the "trial version" features to IMatch 5 now:

+ Database becoming read-only after 30 days,
+ Buy IMatch banner inside the ID plate (always good to be clear about that I want you to buy IMatch)
+ 'Trial Bar' in the Status Bar to indicate how much time of the trial period is left

The IMatch 5 trial version has no other limitations, except that all databases will become read-only if older than 30 days. If a user goes on vacation or cannot try out IMatch within 30 days after installation for whatever reasons, he can create a new database and use it again for 30 days. But usually users decide within the first couple of days if they like IMatch or not.

The current Beta expires (stops working) end of June.

I'm also revamping other parts of the photools.com web site to make them ready for the big launch.

The vouchers for all users with a license to IMatch 3.5 or later have been generated. These vouchers will be displayed in the customerWeb when you log in. You can purchase IMatch 3.6 with a very (IMHO) fair discount using these vouchers. This is the first paid upgrade since 2006. I will not wait that long again    

Users who purchased IMatch 3.6 within the grace period will get access to IMatch 5 automatically.




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[jch2103]

I'm now (unbelievable!) in the final phase of actually shipping IMatch 5.
...
The vouchers for all users with a license to IMatch 3.5 or later have been generated. These vouchers will be displayed in the customerWeb when you log in.

Excellent!

(I assume the vouchers aren't quite yet ready for display in CustomerWeb? It displays the 5.0.160 download, but nothing about vouchers.)

[Aubrey]

Where is the URL with the buy button?

Well done Mario, a very thorough beta test. A standard for software release quality has been shown. I wonder if most of us had been in the driving seat if the product would have been released too soon?

I hope you will take a well deserved break soon... But don't leave us for too long.

Best wishes,
Aubrey.

[Aubrey]

Just thinking....
I would like to be one of the first to buy; should I stay up until the voucher is posted?

Aubrey.

[Aubrey]

Found the website to buy, but going to await the discount coupon.
The price appears to be more than fair even without the coupon!

https://secure.element5.com/shareit/checkout.html?productid=100613&language=English


Aubrey.

[herman]

Great news Mario!
It has been a long and bumpy road for you but IM5 will shake the DAM world 

The current Beta expires (stops working) end of June.

Ahhh....
Poor Ferdinand.
When I understood him correctly he well be on the road then, only to return by the end of July.
He will probably miss the launch and, if he takes IM5 with him on his travel, it will stop working halfway his trip.....

[Mario]

Excellent!
(I assume the vouchers aren't quite yet ready for display in CustomerWeb? It displays the 5.0.160 download, but nothing about vouchers.)

The vouchers will be visible when IMatch 5 is available.

[Mario]

Found the website to buy, but going to await the discount coupon.
The price appears to be more than fair even without the coupon!

https://secure.element5.com/shareit/checkout.html?productid=100613&language=English


Aubrey.

That's the shopping site for IMatch 3. And also the price. IMatch 5 will cost more.

[Ferdinand]

When I understood him correctly he well be on the road then, only to return by the end of July.
He will probably miss the launch and, if he takes IM5 with him on his travel, it will stop working halfway his trip.....

Well, I am optimistic that it will be out before I leave.  If not, then I'm not travelling with a Windows PC anyway, so it doesn't really matter.  Except for my poor long-suffering brother ...

IMatch 5 will cost more.

And so it should.  But as someone else pointed out recently, the smart move would be to buy 3.6 today at the current price and get a free upgrade.  I assume that as soon as you release 5.0, or just before, you will cease sales of 3.6?

[Mario]

IMatch 3 is no longer on sale. Until IMatch 5 is out, nobody is able to purchase IMatch.

Although: One person has pulled the trick to purchase IMatch 5 during a very tiny spot where it was available in the share-it catalog while we were running some tests a few weeks ago. He of course can currently use only the Beta, but he is official the first user with a license to IMatch 5. He will get access to the final version as soon as it becomes available.

[Ger]

Ferdinand wrote:

the smart move would be to

That might be a smart move, another smart move might be to freeze your Windows system on June 29, but the smartest move would definitely be to support the hard work put in the development of IMatch 5 and just pay the upgrade price.

Ger

[Ferdinand]

Ferdinand wrote:

the smart move would be to

That might be a smart move, another smart move might be to freeze your Windows system on June 29, but the smartest move would definitely be to support the hard work put in the development of IMatch 5 and just pay the upgrade price.

When I said "smart" I really meant "devious". 

I am concerned that the price may be too low, and if so then I may not use the upgrade vouchers for my two licences.

[Ger]

Ferdinand wrote:

When I said "smart" I really meant "devious".

Yup, as freezing the Windows system date on Jun 30 is devious.

Indeed Mario should set a fair price for his work (both upgrade and new license).

[Mario]

I will set a fair price.

I looked at 'competing' products and products often used in same environments as DAM/IMatch to find a reasonable price point. I don't try to compete with the cheapest offers (many of who look like they will be discontinued soon) and I don't want to go into the several hundred US$ some of the competitors demand.

Experience tells me that if a user won't buy a product at a price of x, he will not buy it for x-10US$ either. And if a user sees what IMatch can do for him, a price of x or x+10US$ will be considered fair.

I need to make some moneys from IMatch 5 to get a reward for the past years. And I need to be able to pay be bills for hardware and software, licenses and royalties. After all IMatch 5.1.2 (one secret revealed - that's the version of the initial official release) is just the beginning. The feature request board holds many useful requests I plan to implement, and I have some pretty exciting things on my own list as well.

[Richard]

The feature request board holds many useful requests I plan to implement, and I have some pretty exciting things on my own list as well.

And if you follow your past behavior you will add those features and not charge a dime for the new version. In my opinion it is wrong to charge for an upgrade that is little more than a bug fix but it is also wrong to give away the time and effort which you have put into a new feature. Improvements to an existing feature may fall into a gray area but if those changes are extensive, you should charge for them. It is your work that you are giving away free. STOP DOING THAT!!!!

[herman]

After all IMatch 5.1.2 (one secret revealed - that's the version of the initial official release) is just the beginning.

This version number may have some impact.....
I for one am usually reluctant to buy a Vx.0 version of software.
In my experience a lot of .0 versions are buggy, in need of fixes / patches.
So I usually wait until Vx.1 is available.
A version number like V5.1.2 may indicate to likewise minded people that the software has been thoroughly tested.

Having said that I am curious about V5.1.0 and V5.1.1 
One of the questions that still crosses my mind is if you considered Release Candidates as a bridge between beta and public release.
But maybe you gave the answer already before I could bring up the question?

[Richard]

Having said that I am curious about V5.1.0 and V5.1.1

If my memory serves me, the trial version number leads the normal version and is always an odd number so V5.1.1 would be the trial and V5.1.2 the full. V5.1.0 just doesn't fit that criteria.

[Mario]

V5.1.0 and V5.1.1

Licensed versions use even version numbers (.2) and trial versions use odd version numbers. The trial version will have version 5.1.1.
The Beta always was 5.0.x and the initial release is hence 5.1

One of the questions that still crosses my mind is if you considered Release Candidates as a bridge between beta and public release.

What other companies call "final" I call Beta. What other companies call "Release Candidate" I call Beta.

How many "Release Candidates" should I publish? How would they differ from the Beta? Or the follup-up releases I intend to ship every 2-4 weeks after IMatch 5.1 is available? Even when I do 10 release candidates, two golds, and nine platinum "really, this is going to be it" versions, the next day somebody will find a bug.

If you are concerned or want to see a bug fixed before you spend your money, that's easy to do. Just hold back until you see the bug reported as fixed, then wait for the confirmation from the originating user, and then buy IMatch 5. The Beta will stop working around end of June, though.

IMatch 5 is by far the best and most stable and tested software I ever shipped. The initial releases of IMatch 3.5 or 3.6 were a mess compared to that.
Of course IMatch 5 has bugs. Some may even affect many users. But many Beta testers already went "production" with IMatch 5, so things looks pretty good, all things considered.

IMatch 5 ships with some bugs. All software has bugs. AFAIK Adobe fixed over 400 bugs after shipping (and getting paid for) a LR version. The Mozilla Firefox bug report database reported 800,000 (!) bugs in 14 years. Many dupes of course, but still. Microsoft gets about 100 new bug reports for Windows per day, and the number of open or on-hold bugs goes into the thousands (and any of these bugs may even affect IMatch 5 in some way).

After the initial shipment of IMatch 5 I will continue to implement new things and fix bugs. The new agile process allows me to ship updates even on a daily basis, if some bad bug is reported. But at least I will know if all the work and efforts "pay off" after the initial release. I also need the publicity of an available version to get at least a small breathing space in the marketing bombardment of Adobe and others. They can shovel so much money down all marketing channels every day that users sometimes don't even know that there are alternatives...

[herman]

IMatch 5 is by far the best and most stable and tested software I ever shipped.

IMHO it is also the best documented software ever by any standard. Period.
Probably also the best supported software.
I have never seen a developer being so responsive in his community, nor a community so active and knowledgeable as this one.

They can shovel so much money down all marketing channels every day that users sometimes don't even know that there are alternatives...

As soon as IMatch is released users will know there is an alternative.
The word will be spread over forums, reviews will be published.
I think IMatch does not need a massive advertising campaign, the product will sell on it's qualities and on recommendation from satisfied users.

[Ferdinand]

In my opinion it is wrong to charge for an upgrade that is little more than a bug fix

Then there's the upgrade that mostly just does a reskin, leaves the bugs there, and replaces a working plugin with a less effective one, and where the upgrade price isn't that much less than the standard price.  (For those who missed it, this is a reference to AfterShot Pro 2 from Corel,)

but it is also wrong to give away the time and effort which you have put into a new feature. Improvements to an existing feature may fall into a gray area but if those changes are extensive, you should charge for them. It is your work that you are giving away free. STOP DOING THAT!!!!

I agree, but with the caveat that most companies provide some modest feature enhancements before they start charging for the next major release.  The question is how many are free, and how large a set warrants a major release and a charge.  I agree that it's been too long.

[herman]

The question is how many are free, and how large a set warrants a major release and a charge.  I agree that it's been too long.

I fully agree with the sentiment that it was too long.
I use IM3 since 2006, I can't recall I ever had to pay for an upgrade although IM3.6 was actually IM4.
That is remarkable, all other photography related software I use has seen many major paid releases in those years.
Some applications came and were retired in that period, IM has been the solid and reliable hub in my workflow all these years.

I also agree with Ferdinand's sentiment that I may not use the upgrade voucher but rather buy a new license. Just to compensate Mario a little bit for all his time, work, energy, patience, support, lost weekends and holidays, .......
After all any other DAM would have cost me at least three times as much over the years.

[falconeye]

You can purchase IMatch 3.6 with a very (IMHO) fair discount using these vouchers. This is the first paid upgrade since 2006. I will not wait that long again    

Users who purchased IMatch 3.6 within the grace period will get access to IMatch 5 automatically.

Hello Mario,

shouldn't it be "You can purchase Imatch 5 with a very fair discount...". Or do I understand something wrong here?
Cheers

[Richard]

warrants a major release and a charge

Although it has been Mario's practice to only charge for major releases, I don't see that as being the only time to charge a fee. An improvement may be so minor and thus the fee so minor it is not worth the hassle but 50 or 60 free versions with many upgrades is not the way to go. IMatch development  is not a hobby even though it is a work of love.

[ChrisMatch]

Sorry that I don't quite understand that (maybe I am too excited  )...

The vouchers for all users with a license to IMatch 3.5 or later have been generated. These vouchers will be displayed in the customerWeb when you log in. You can purchase IMatch 3.6 with a very (IMHO) fair discount using these vouchers.
...
Users who purchased IMatch 3.6 within the grace period will get access to IMatch 5 automatically.

The vouchers will be visible when IMatch 5 is available.

There will be a voucher to buy v3.6 and one will get v5 if you buy it ?
But the voucher will only be visible after v5 is available - so why not buy v5 directly?

Or to ask it differently:
I own version 3.6 already! What do I have to do?
Simply wait till v5 gets available and then use a voucher to upgrade?
(or will there be a short period of time that I better don't miss?)

Thanks

[Ferdinand]

Mario's practice to only charge for major releases .... but 50 or 60 free versions with many upgrades is not the way to go.

Not it's not.  The trick that Adobe pulls (e.g. LR) is to give some of them for free (mostly support for new cams), and then hold some of the slightly more significant ones back and bundle them into a "major release".  Perhaps this one one time when Adobe is worth copying.  It's a question of balance.  You've got to give users something, but you've got to charge often enough to have a viable business model.  So it's rather like being a photographer, non?

[Ferdinand]

I own version 3.6 already! What do I have to do?
Simply wait till v5 gets available and then use a voucher to upgrade?

That's my understanding.  I think there is a typo in Mario's post.  I think it should read "You can purchase IMatch 5.1.2 with a very (IMHO) fair discount using these vouchers."

[jelvers]

Mario, this is excellent news. The work you put into this product is unbelievable. I have intensively followed all the different beta releases and I was impressed from the very beginning. Now I am really looking forward to buy Imatch 5 in  the very near future!

I wish that every new buyer will be impressed as the beta tester community has been and that it will become a true commercial success for you as well.

I cross fingers for a very successfull launch of the new Imatch 5!

Juergen 

[Richard]

I cross fingers for a very successfull launch of the new Imatch 5!

I am not at all worried that the launch will NOT be a success. I am a bit concerned that the launch will result in so many new users asking Mario for support by email that he will be buried. In the past 50 email a day was not at all unusual but the launch could multiply that many times over. Too much for one man to deal with in a timely manner. Hopefully Mario can get some help with the rush that will result. Or maybe the newcomers will come here for support.

[Mario]

I intent to move as much as possible to the community. Most of the "new user" questions have been answered here many times. And we have now at least a hundred of very skilled users who can help rookies over the first hurdles