Hi folks, I'm a registered student in an on-line class. The school has been approved by Academic Superstore for student discounts on software, and Poser 4.0.3 is available there at $120. So my question is this: does anyone know if the academic version is the full program or a watered-down version for students? Also, will it be eligible for update and upgrade as new versions come out? I'm still not 100% certain I'm going to buy it even if it's the full program, 'cause I'm on a pretty tight budget. At the moment I'm trying to find and buy the issue of Computer Arts that has Poser 3 so I can explore the app a bit. Thanks.

Real thing. Same rights as if you paid full retail. My Poser 3 version was Academic - got it a couple of months before Poser 4 came out.

Just to speculate, and I think MC used to do this: A couple of three months before a new version comes out, the market could have available academic priced versions for everyone. Then the new version comes out and most users upgrade. The price for an academic version + the upgrade price for the next is usually about the same as retail for the new version. But there may be more takers, because the ramp seems shallower. The old version would be obsolete soon anyway.

You can order back issues of Computer Arts directly from the magazine's website for roughly $10 US.

Attached Link: http://www.journeyed.com/

You can get the full retail shipping version, complete with the Content CD, full-color fold out reference card and complete manual at JourneyEd at the address above (($129.98 US). The complete retail version of ProPack is also available, at $99.98US. There is absolutely no difference between the retail version and the academic version, except the cost, of course! :)