"A software company that talks too much about future products almost always shoots itself in the foot." Well, Lynn, if that's your policy line on release of information, I think you're in a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't! Aside from the usual rip-off on US vs. European pricing, the initial side-grade offer is not unreasonable. But it is still a substantail amount of money, much of which is paying for features such as animation and high-end workflow integration that is of no interest to me whatever. Given the assurances that the Vue d'Esprit line will continue, I find it hard to believe that the enhancements will not include most of those that I find attractive in Vue 4 Pro - notably the vegetation editor and to a much lesser extent the wind thing. A faster render engine would be nice too, but having just majorly upgraded my PC, that is not of primary concern to me. So in the absence of any statement of even the most general nature about the likely content of a future Vue d'Esprit, I shall probably stick with my assumptions and wait for that upgrade for a product in the same price range as Vue 4.12 rather than possibly get hooked into two upgrade cycles, one of which is much potentially more expensive and likely to continue to develop in areas that are of no interest to a hobbyist such as myself. Call me cynical but it seems to me that this short time period for the intial side-grade offer and the starvation of information about future directions are a marketing ploy to get as many of us to sign-up to the Pro version as possible, and of course thereafter into a more expensive upgrade cycle. It is inconceivable that the company does not know at least in general terms whatit plans to include in the next version by now (unless of course there is no intention of a next version...), so I think you owe it to us, your loyal existing customer base, to be open about it and enabls us to make an informed decision without this added time-pressure of 15 october hanging over us like a Damocletian sword while we wait for straight answers.