I just noticed Poser 5 has been released...damn, I was away that long? Well, question time: Are Stephanie, Victoria, Steffy Stax, and Voluptuous Vicki compatible with Poser 5? As a matter of fact, are most of my Poser 4 models compatible with Poser 5?

yes, yes & yes in that order ;) kupa said about 2 weeks ago that everything made for Poser4 will work in Poser5. Rob

Yes. Anthony Hernandez Curious Labs

oh yeah seeing Anthony post reminded me, CL have 2 copies of the Poser5 manual downloadable from their website, grab a copy see what you think, one is print disabled cause it's lowres, the other bigger download is printable. Rob

And when is it out? And how come people say you have to "ask permission" to Curious Labs to use it? Are you guys going the Microsoft way? Hell, that's why I haven't even upgraded from Win98!

15th September, & it's not as bad as people make it out to be, you get a code when installing poser5, get in touch with CL, give them the code & they give you the activation code same as MS. Rob

"When is it out?" Ha, the most commonly asked Poser question is... ;-)

yep it's ranked 3rd in the most annoying question in the world top 5 here's the rest ;) 1. Why? 2. Are we there yet? 3. When will poser5 be out? 4. Does my bum look big in this? 5. Do you come here often? Rob

Geez, Rob, pardon me for annoying you.

"it's not as bad as people make it out to be, you get a code when installing poser5, get in touch with CL, give them the code & they give you the activation code same as MS." Unless of course they go under. Then who is going to reactivate your software for you? Not wishing them bad luck or anything, but how many software companies do you know of that have folded shop? That just sucks. And while Microsoft is not likely to fold anytime soon this type of activation is precisely why I too have refused to upgrade to XP, though I probably will do the Poser upgrade. jon

OH NO!!! If my machine crashes and I have to re-load P5, does this mean I have to wait on getting it activated again?? Or is this 'code' thing good for my own product for it's life and reinstalling once I go through the "process" the first time around? Lyne

The way I read it you have to go thru the process every time you install it because it generates a unique "challenge code" each time. Your original authorization code won't work with the new challenge code generated during the new install.

I think it's pretty stupid too. as stated above any scheme they use will be defeated within days (Probably before The damn thing comes out) by pirates. So it only hurts us paying honest customers. I'm still getting it but I think it's a stupid policy especially when they have such rabidly loyal customers.

every time you install? My gawd..I'll be in thier e-mail about twice a week then..My system loves it's crashes..I really want to upgrade..and I don't mind going through the process of aquiring an activation code.. but every time I re-install is asking too much..and I really have to say I'm a little more than concerned that if CL does go under.. and I Hope they don't...cause I like thier products..Then I just paid alot of money for a product I can't use.. is this true?

"it's not as bad as people make it out to be"....BS, it's every bit as bad as people are saying....sorry if you don't think it's a major annoyance...not to mention that I can't use it on my laptop at the same time I'm using it on my desktop, as I have done with P4....no upgrade for me..and I was soooo looking forward to the new version...

the only thing i find anoying about the code thing is having to call in to do it :/ darn microsoft anyhow, now creative labs is doing the same? man... i know eventially im going to regret upgrading anything... i can see it now... 5 years down the road... u go to redo your computer and you have to call 40 companies just to get your programs installed... and gawd... those poor souls have to listen to my voice and bleed from there ears...

sorry luke I was joking, you didn't annoy me at all :) it didn't quite come out how I intended it to. Rob

Oh dammit! That bites! I already have a software that requires re-authorization everytime I re-install it's a pain in the rear. Exactly how will this help? Think about it... my system crashes and I contact CL to re-authorize me : "Sorry that serial number is already registered" "I know that ~I'm~ the one who registered it" "We don't allow multiple registration of the same serial number" "I understand that - but I bought a new computer to run my new Poser 5 and now I need to rte-install it and I need to activate it again" "Multiple activations will log your serial number - you may no longer update your software - we are locking out that serial number. Have a nice Day"

Rob, no problem there. I thought you were teasing me. And about the codes for P5, things like that, instead of protecting their software (and you all know people are STILL gonna crack it) it will make people mad (as we are witnessing here) and most of them (including me, I believe) will NOT buy the product. See, I was going to buy WinXP, but when I heard you had to ask for Microsoft's permission to install the software, I said "to hell with it." I COULD get a cracked version of WinXP, but that's not the point. The point is I will not use that software, legally bought or pirated, of a company that will do stuff like this. And I'm still in Win98 and I will NOT upgrade! Thing is, I really, really like Poser, and Poser 5 looks extremely good with the hair and cloth thingies...but I don't feel like buying it now that I see it works with that "new code for every install" rule. Hell, what if people's fears come true and Curious Labs closes shop in, say, two years? What if people have to reformat their drives and they wanna install P5 again, and it asks for a new code? What then? How many angry, loyal, honest, paying customers are gonna feel cheated then? If you want to put a code, well, put a code. But a new code every time you gotta install the software? That's ridiculous!

I have a feeling, that when they start getting a couple of thousand calls a week, they'll change. If would be a real bitch if everybody called them at least once a week to get a new code, wouldn't it ?

well luke if you want to upgrade windows & don't want the hassle of the activation code then Win2K is what you need, it has all the stability of WinXP being based on the NT kernel as well & no activation or spying modules built in, except probably fastfind. My copy of poser5 is ordered so I'll let you know what the activation process is like once I've been through it. Rob

I think what I'm going to do is buy Poser 5, and authorize it and all that stuff, first time I have to re-install it I'm going to look for a good warez version, though. Life is too short for this BS. The primary reason I didn't upgrade my Max 3 to Max 4 was the software authorzation, rather than a hardware dongal. I understand the Win2K latest SP has the spying stuff too, Gee, I'm going to rush right out and get that, too!

I don't blame you in the least Jim.