Will upgrade to 5.5 be included in the price if I buy Imatch 5 now?

[Vioh]

I plan to buy a new licens for The radiomuseum in Gothenbourg and I wonder if the upgrade to version 5.5 will be included in the price if i buy it now, or do i have to wait until you release 5.5? When will 5.5 be reelased?

[RalfC]

The question about the release date can be answered by Mario only. But I think the answer will be "when it is ready": Mario usually does not tell fixed release dates because quality/stability is more important than to be tight to a given date.

On Photools.com is written

Customers who have purchased IMatch within 6 months before the release date of an upgrade are automatically eligible for a free upgrade.

Meaning that if 5.5 is released within 6 months of your purchase, it is included (Otherwise at a reduced cost).

Regards,
Ralf

[TomS]

I am new here and am considering using iMatch.  Based on the version numbers, it seems that this program is updated fairly frequently, which means I would have to continue to spend money pretty much every six months if I want to have the latest version. Is this so or am I missing something? Does this apply only to major version updates or all updates?

[jch2103]

I am new here and am considering using iMatch.  Based on the version numbers, it seems that this program is updated fairly frequently, which means I would have to continue to spend money pretty much every six months if I want to have the latest version. Is this so or am I missing something? Does this apply only to major version updates or all updates?

iMatch 5.5 will be the first major product upgrade since the release of iMatch 5, although there have been many updates with significant improvements and changes since the initial release.

From http://www.photools.com/shop/ :

Update and Upgrade Policy

Updates: IMatch uses an agile development model. New versions are released about every four weeks, incorporating new features, enhancements of existing functionality and the occasional bug fix. The development of IMatch is steered in close cooperation with its user base via the photools.community. These regular updates are available free of charge to all licensed users of the corresponding product line and version.

Upgrades: Upgrades are major product releases which often contain significant changes and feature enhancements for the product. Upgrades may or may not be available free of charge.

When we release a new major release, customers who have purchased the corresponding previous version can upgrade for a fair upgrade fee (discounted upgrade). The discounted upgrade may be limited to a certain time period.

Customers who have purchased IMatch within 6 months before the release date of an upgrade are automatically eligible for a free upgrade.

[Ger]

Hi TomS

I cannot look into the future, but in my experience IMatch is definitely not a money-grubber.

I have been an IMatch users since 2005. After paying for my license I only got (frequent) free updates/patches/fixes until Mario launched version 5 in June last year. Upgrade fee was very well spent money (not to say: IM5 upgrade was too cheap). If (if...) Mario is launching v5.5 by the end of this year, it will be a 1.5 year scheme... not too bad.

Moreover, with IMatch you pay for upgrades that are true new versions/new functionality, not bug fixes or eye-candy sold as new functionality you might be used to from other companies.

Ger

[TomS]

Mario is launching v5.5 by the end of this year, it will be a 1.5 year scheme... not too bad.

I can live with that. Thank you for promptly answering my questions.

[sinus]

I cannot look into the future, but in my experience IMatch is definitely not a money-grubber.

True. I am using Imatch since 2001 and with the last paid version, I bought two licenses, simply by the fact, because Mario (I do not know him personally) is a Man who is very fair and I thought, he worked so hard and he gives really a superb support, that I want not only say so, but also reward him a bit.

I can realy recommand IMatch.

[Mario]

I am new here and am considering using iMatch.  Based on the version numbers, it seems that this program is updated fairly frequently, which means I would have to continue to spend money pretty much every six months if I want to have the latest version. Is this so or am I missing something? Does this apply only to major version updates or all updates?

IMatch uses an agile development model, which means I ship updates very often, about every four weeks. These updates not only contain bug fixes, but also new features, enhancement requested by users and improvements here and there. This means that you get bug fixes super-fast (if some dramatic bug is found I even ship updates the other day) and a constant stream of minor or bigger enhancements.

From time to time, I release an upgrade, which incorporates new major features (for the 5.5. this will be the new Viewer, QuickView Panel and the Printing module, among maybe 50 other enhancements). I charge money for these upgrades. The last paid upgrade was in June 2014, and the next will be the upcoming 5.5 release. No fixed release date yet, but it's not too far away.

I think that's fair for both parties. You get many updates and see your feature requests incorporated quickly, and once in a while you pay a reasonable fee to allow me to continue to development of and support for IMatch. I get only few complains 

Details about my fair update and upgrade policy are here:

http://www.photools.com/shop/

[Menace]

Another fair point besides the very fair price for such a powerful DAM-Software. If you buy one, you can use it without monthly costs (like Adobe products).

If you don't to buy an upgrade you can still use it without any further costs.

[Mario]

And I even allow you to use a single license on multiple computers - if the user who uses IMatch is the licensed user. This makes it possible to have IMatch on your desktop and on your notebook, for example.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against subscription models. My distributor Share-It offers such models, and I could switch to an "annual" plan for IMatch easily.

Of course if I would do this, I would make it so that IMatch continues to work even when you don't pay your subscription anymore. You won't get updates or support from me of course, but as long as the version you had last works on whatever Windows version is current, you can continue using it.

[ben]

for the 5.5. this will be the new Viewer, QuickView Panel and the Printing module, among maybe 50 other enhancements).

haa, i knew there would be more changes besides the printing module (mario was denying it...)

Cool