What a load of rubbish!
No one seems to grumble on DP about those really expensive programs that charge huge amounts for upgrades. Also, it's not true that existing users are not supported, Mike has made that quite clear.
I can't join DP forums as they don't like Yahoo addresses; I hope someone from here puts that guy right - and why doesn't he post here, is he just a stirrer?
I'm into Ultimate already, I particularly appreciate the exif data transfer and the new (extra) white balance adjustment.
The pop-out print size box size box just take a little getting used to, but it works very well.
Terry

I replied to that thread with some personal thoughts but from a business perspective.  Hopefully it will throw some light on the subject and hopefully it is seen as tactful.  If not, there will always be some who grumble.  I've spent far too long at the impossible task of trying to make everyone happy and it's time to move forward and face reality of doing business.  Apple is still selling a defective (and marginally innovative) product in the iPhone 4 and people are still eating it up.  Perhaps they have faith in Apple.  I think the vast majority of my customers have faith in me too... and my product isn't even defective!    Anyway, my response on dpreview is the only response that I plan to make, but it might be worth a read for those interested in my "deepest thoughts". 

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=35881442

Mike

Like you say, everyone is going to have an opinion.  I in turn feel betrayed by customers who would call themselves "a loyal customer of many years", yet they not only expect what they bought to be free, but also everything I do from that point forward.  And what are they "loyal" for?  They "loyally" downloaded every version I offered for the past 10 years... for free?  They mentioned me on some forum (they like the software, why wouldn't they)?  They identified a bug (which I fixed in 8 hours) or they gave me an idea for a new feature (which I implemented and they are now using to their benefit)?  I'm sorry, but the real loyalty is with me and my company toward my customers and no, I am certainly not ashamed to say it!  The real problem is the pampering over the years and the fact that I've never taken a bold step to say "wait a minute... this isn't Qimage any more!"  Most people I think are just expressing an opinion and it's even usually one that I understand.  In a (very) few though, there's a sense of entitlement these days that is really quite ridiculous.  They think they can dictate the course of your business indefinitely because they paid 50 bucks in 2001.  This is a new product and just as you said, if it doesn't fit the bill for you, don't buy it!

Mike

Andy,
I happen to one who knows Mike for a long time, and I can assure you that there will be no better printing program or printing routine ever.
Mike is top of the line when it comes to digital printing, and his weight of effort will be channeled into Ultimate.
His enhancements into the realm of Raw editing will be in Ultimate.
You cannot go wrong.

Best to you and hope you can be part of the growth and perfection of Q/Ultimate.

Fred

I fear I haven't done as well as I could on the explanation of what the future holds for Qimage versus Qimage Ultimate.  I think the biggest fear among users is that Qimage is dead and Qimage Ultimate is the "new thing".  That's not the plan but I think people might think that due to my inability to really explain the business plan in a small space.  I'll try to update the web page with better info on that in the next day or so.  In the mean time I'll do the best I can here.  I'm trying not to over complicate so here it is put as simply as I can word it at the moment...

We recently did a business review of where we've been, where we are now, and where we want to be in the future as ddisoftware, Inc..  It soon became apparent that we could not continue with an "open ended" plan like Qimage where everyone expects everything we do to be provided for free regardless of how much it differs from the original concept.  The conclusion among the panel (and yes, this involved much more than just me and my say) was that "Qimage" had become known as a catch-all for everything we do at ddisoftware and in no way did it represent the product that we introduced in 1998 with free lifetime upgrades nor even the product of three years ago.  It was also obvious that we needed a more sustainable plan because we (ok, that one is mainly I) wanted to move faster and do more to stay competitive.  The market is a much different place now.  The only way to do that was to define Qimage as, well, basically what it is in Lite, Pro, and Studio and design a different product with a much different update approach where we have a platform to move forward without the limitations of the "Qimage umbrella".  Only problem was, I wanted to keep the Qimage name as it is a recognized entity in the industry.

So here we are with Qimage Ultimate.  It's a new product that has a whole new approach to development.  I'm still the lead programmer but we do have other programmers contributing now, speeding up development but also obviously draining more resources at the same time.  Qimage Ultimate will be on a faster development cycle than you have seen before with Qimage, yet Qimage LPS (Lite, Pro, and Studio) will remain active and will continue to be updated to keep with current technology.  That means that Qimage Lite, Pro, and Studio will get updates to support new cameras, updates to keep pace with new operating systems, printers, and so on.  This ensures that the product you bought will be around for a long time.  As you know, we are one of the first companies to support new MS operating systems and that will continue in both Qimage and Qimage Ultimate!  That said, most of the new innovations will happen in Qimage Ultimate and a few of them will likely make it to Qimage Lite, Pro, and Studio as well, particularly those that "fit" well into the coding structure of both programs.  For example, if we find a way to bolster print quality, you'll see that first in Qimage Ultimate and if we decide that code is easily adapted into Qimage Lite, Pro, and Studio it will likely go there as well because it doesn't involve adding new features and expanding the product functionality.  It would, however, strengthen the Lite, Pro, and Studio products in that they will do what they do now, only better.  And that's what we want.

That's the best way I can figure to explain it right now.  Simply put, we will continue to make Lite, Pro, and Studio a strong and reliable product with needed updates but we don't plan to expand its features to cover new ground.  That will be done in Qimage Ultimate.  As to our users, it makes it pretty simple to decide.  If you are happy with what Qimage Lite, Pro, and Studio do as far as features and UI, there is little incentive to move to Qimage Ultimate.  We feel a lot of customers want to move forward with a bold new product that will break new ground in multiple areas as far as simplicity (UI) and functionality.  That, in a nutshell, is Qimage Ultimate.

Mike

Hi Mike,

As a Qimage Studio user for a couple of years now I want to give my feedback as well:

I have no problem with the yearly maintenance fee. I, too, was feeling that a free upgrade forever policy is not sustainable and I would be happy to pay a bit for keeping current and development active. While the maintenance fee is on the high end of what seems to be usual with the competition when seen as % of purchase cost, $20 a year is cheap enough that I would not think twice about paying it.

What rubs me really the wrong way is the non-existing upgrade path for existing users. While it is certainly true that I got my money’s worth, it just does not feel right to me. The whole thing is certainly more of a marketing and psychological matter, than a purely rational one. As a long term customer I simply do not feel appreciated.

And the fact for me is: Like others, I use Qimage for printing. But since Lightroom 3 is finally up to speed in this area, I use it for most of my standard printing tasks. So Qimage got less and less use recently, although I still may use it on occasion when the quality difference is noticeable.

If there would have been a good upgrade deal, say 50% off for existing users, I would have updated yesterday, right after getting the announcement without thinking twice; if only to support the developer and stay on the cutting edge. That was the reason I got the Studio edition as well. For my needs one of the cheaper versions would have been fine, but I wanted to support the development and the price differential was cheap enough for me to get the top tier version.

But now that I’m treated like a first-time customer, I’m in turn going to treat this like a new purchase instead of an update. And when I evaluate the program under this premise, it does not seem to be a useful product for my needs. So I’m not going to buy it.

I think you are making a mistake by not offering an incentive for your existing customers to upgrade. Avoiding the risk of many of them feeling unappreciated alone seems to be worth it to me. I also think financially this would make sense as the higher number of people upgrading would, in my opinion, probably make up for the discounted rate. And a lot of these upgrade customers would probably pay the maintenance fee after the first year, so the broader customer base would help in the long run even more. But then again I’m no expert in these matters.

I’m wishing you all the best and that your business plan works out for you. If you ever change you mind and decide on a special upgrade sale for existing users, let us know.

Best regards,
Marc

If you had named it something else you probably wouldn't have to be discussing this. Something like "DDI Ultimate" or whatever but I know you wanted to keep the Qimage name. I was more concerned that you would sell Qimage to a large software company and then who knows what direction the product would go in. Were you thinking of publishing a priority list of first year enhancements you were planning to add to Ultimate?

Andy