I have Vue 8 xStream
I don't have maintenance. I am up to version 8.4
so if I want, I could pay $200.00 for maintenance then I would get 8.5 straight away, and a discount on 9 - am I reading it right?
Love esther

Hi! estherau

I have Xstream 8 and what I understand this e-mail is
if you buy the maintenance plan to $395 (see the price list)
you receive 8.5 and 9 free.

From the e-mail:
"If you are not under maintenance, but wish to advance to Vue 8.5, you should purchase maintenance today (you will receive Vue 8.5 and the Vue 9 upgrade free of charge). "

Is what i understand....

PuzzWizz
Sorry my bad english

If you already have maintenance, it is $195 ($295 Xstream) for an additional year. If you do not have maintenance yet it is $295 ($395 xstream). I am  not sure how they treat the "30 days of free maintenance included" if you have those, but I would try and extend for $195/$295. Might work.
In any case if you get any form of 1 year maintenance now you get 8.5 and 9 without additional cost. I am now in my second year of maintenance and that's how it worked for 7.5, 8 and 8.5 and according to the email that has not changed. It is an excellent deal in my opinion and now it got even better (i.e. $100 less). I will extend my maintenance for another year in the Fall.

Ciao
TD

So basically you have to pay 295 $ once to "start" your maintenance for a year. You get the current .5 release and the next full release in your first year of maintenance for the total cost of those 295 $. Let's say your maintenance plan ends in November just after the release of Vue 9 you can add another year of maintenance and thus get Vue 10 for 195 $.

So, am I getting that right? Pay 295 $ once and then get any future ugrade to a full version after your first maintenance year for 195 $ per year? Can someone confirm this conclusion?

Considering theupgrade prices from 6 to 7 and 7 to 8 195 $ for an upgrade to the next full version isn't such a bad deal at all. If I had the money I'd consider going under maintenace just now.

Quote - So basically you have to pay 295 $ once to "start" your maintenance for a year. You get the current .5 release and the next full release in your first year of maintenance for the total cost of those 295 $. Let's say your maintenance plan ends in November just after the release of Vue 9 you can add another year of maintenance and thus get Vue 10 for 195 $.

So, am I getting that right? Pay 295 $ once and then get any future ugrade to a full version after your first maintenance year for 195 $ per year? Can someone confirm this conclusion?

Considering theupgrade prices from 6 to 7 and 7 to 8 195 $ for an upgrade to the next full version isn't such a bad deal at all. If I had the money I'd consider going under maintenace just now.

Yes, that is correct. I have the maintenance since before the release of 7.5. I got 7.5 and 8 during my first year and just downloaded the pre-release of 8.5. If they stick with their release schedule, I will also get 9 as part of this years maintenance, but it doesn't really matter because I'll extend for another year anyway.

Ciao
TD

It's better financially  to skip versions of vue and upgrade every other version.  The maintenance scam is a ripoff. 

I thought buying the Standard Maintenance plan for Vue Infinite now for $295 and get the 8.5 & 9.0 upgrades later this year sounded pretty good until I saw this on the Maintenance Plan Purchase page:

**Valid 1 year from first activation of Vue
**
What date could they be referring to?  The date you activated your very first copy of Vue?  Something isn't very clear.  Does anyone have an idea what "first activation" refers to?

**
**

Quote - I thought buying the Standard Maintenance plan for Vue Infinite now for $295 and get the 8.5 & 9.0 upgrades later this year sounded pretty good until I saw this on the Maintenance Plan Purchase page:

**Valid 1 year from first activation of Vue
**
What date could they be referring to?  The date you activated your very first copy of Vue?  Something isn't very clear.  Does anyone have an idea what "first activation" refers to?

**
**

This refers to the version of Vue you are running when you purchase the maintenance. If you want to have the full 1 year period, you need to get the maintenance next time you update. As an example, if you bought and activated Vue 8 Infinite 6 months ago and now purchase the maintenance you will have six months left on this maintenance plan. This is pretty much standard for this kind of plan for most software companies that offer it. 
There really is no other way for a company because otherwise everyone would just wait until just before the next version comes put and then subscribe (and essentially get two years of subscription for the price of one).

Ciao
TD

I can live with that, thd77 - and e-on said exactly what you are saying (I couldn't stand the suspense so I just called them a few minutes ago)

Thanks for your input,

Mari-Anne

Quote - I can live with that, thd77 - and e-on said exactly what you are saying (I couldn't stand the suspense so I just called them a few minutes ago)

Thanks for your input,

Mari-Anne

Edited:  I was pleasantly surprised to note that I got an extra 30-days added on to the maintenance expiration date by e-on once my purchase was approved.

Quote - > Quote - I can live with that, thd77 - and e-on said exactly what you are saying (I couldn't stand the suspense so I just called them a few minutes ago)

Thanks for your input,

Mari-Anne

Edited:  I was pleasantly surprised to note that I got an extra 30-days added on to the maintenance expiration date by e-on once my purchase was approved.

Yes, I got that last year, too. With the new prices, I can always have the latest version of Vue for $195 a year. An excellent deal in my book.
Do download the 8.5 pre-release if you have not done so yet.  It run's very well for me and some of the additions are just great.  Especially some of the little stuff (you can now drag and drop multiple plants/objects from the browser in an eco-system. That makes populating one with many different species much faster. And there is now a preview button for dynamic ecosystems. No need to render just to see what the ecosystem looks like).

Ciao
TD

Yep - done that and got it downloaded & installed.  Now the only thing left is to play with it. And a definite Yes - I think that is a good deal too.  $195/year for the utmost latest build cannot be beaten.  At that price, you're willing to put up with "a few" imperfections.

Very true. I don't think I have any software that doesn't have it's issues....

Have fun
TD

 Okay, I think I will get it.  Thank you all very much!
Love esther

keep your money for something better.

 I think you will like it, esther. The nice thing is you get better tech support, and much quicker answers.

 well I've done it.  PLunked the money down.  However they say there is a delay whilst they check my card.  so it will be tomorrow I guess.
Love esther

E-on is closed on the weekends.

oh - it's monday tomorrow in australia but I guess i still won't get it then.  sad. 

Around 7:30am France time is when E-on starts looking at product orders in their queue.

Their basically getting money without a new full release.  If you want to pay software companies for work they will soon do... go right ahead. 

I think this is a lousy trend and will never participate in it.

CobraEye
No one asked you too, so why do you care? So who's paying you to only come here to bad mouth Vue and post nothing else, then, eh? :tt2:
 

 Bonjour
I have now vue infinite version 8,4
If i take standard maintenance plan now (295$) .i got for sure version 8,5 and within one year version 9
But if version 9 is not launched this year (within next 12 months) i must pay 295$ for maintenance plan and another 295 $ for new version or 175$ for renew maintenance plan
If i wait for version 9 without maintenance plan  upgrade  for version 9 would be 299$(like all other upgrade i paid in the past)
Am i right??
Thanks

Quote -  Bonjour
I have now vue infinite version 8,4
If i take standard maintenance plan now (295$) .i got for sure version 8,5 and within one year version 9
But if version 9 is not launched this year (within next 12 months) i must pay 295$ for maintenance plan and another 295 $ for new version or 175$ for renew maintenance plan
If i wait for version 9 without maintenance plan  upgrade  for version 9 would be 299$(like all other upgrade i paid in the past)
Am i right??
Thanks

Bonjour martial!

Yes, that sounds right. However, keep in mind that, while there is no guarantee, they have kept with their new release schedule (.5 version April/May and .0 in Nov/Dec) for 7.5, 8.0, and 8.5. I think that the chances that you will get 9.0 in the next 12 month are near 100%. But always keep in mind that it is only really worth it if you want the .5 versions. Otherwise I would suggest to just update from .0 to .0 version.

Ciao
TD

 I'm sure I read somewhere you would get 9 anyway, not dependent on time if you bought maintenance now.

 Thanks for comments Thd777