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Subscription Products
          Questions and Answers

Q: How long will the Subscription run?

Subscriptions run for a period of 12 months.

Q: How do I know my concrete subscription status?

You will receive a Subscription Account statement with your subscription purchase. This statement documents all active as well as the last expired subscription you purchased at Alaska Software.

Q: What is the benefit of the Subscription?

Customers with an active Subscription receive Hotfixes and Hotfix-Rollups. They also get access to new product releases or new features free of charge for a period of 12 months.

Q: How can I update an existing Xbase++ licence?

Updates or upgrades are available with our annual Subscription products. Any registered Xbase++ customer can buy a Subscription which automatically updates the product to the most current version. In addition, purchasing a Subscription provides the customer with access to Hotfixes, Hotfix-Rollups and new features for a period of 12 months.

Q: What is the difference between Subscriptions with and without support?

All Subscription products include Getting Started and Installation support for a period of 12 months free of charge. These support offerings help you get started with the technologies and features of the products included in the Subscription. However, Getting Started support does not cover extensive problem analysis or help for How Do I This?-types of questions. Also, it does not include review of your source code or the possibility to request dedicated hotfixes for certain problems. Only customers that purchase a Subscription with Technical Support can benefit from these services.

Q: The Product Outlook sounds great and is a major step forward. If I prolong my subscription, is there a guarantee I will reveive the new release?

New technologies and features will be made available to subscription customers in a staged process. Although Alaska Software does not guarantee a new major release in the timeframe of the 12 months subscription period, it is very likely that more than a single group of new features will be published in the timeframe your subscription runs. Therefore, Subscription customers will benefit through dedicated updates and hotfixes, regardless of whether a new product release is published in the 12 months period.

Q: Can I skip the subscription renewal now and buy a Subscription or some sort of update later on?

Yes, of course you can. However, please keep in mind that having an active product licence is a prerequisite for purchasing a discounted Subscription upgrade plan. Regular prices may be applicable at the time of purchase and you will not receive any Hotfixes, Technical support or new technologies made available in the meantime.

Q: Whats the ratio behind the annual Subscription model of Alaska Software?

Alaska Software wants to establish, develop and maintain a stable long-term relationship with its customers. For this, Alaska Software has reduced the pricing of the subscription products and provides additional benefits such as access to Hotfixes and new technologies to customers that stay with their Subscription plan.

Q: Does the Subscription automatically extend itself after the 12 month period?

No. Although most other Subscription plans automatically prolong themselves automatically, we don't like that idea. Alaska Software encourages all customers to evaluate their respective demand to perform an educated purchase decision.

Q: I am a hobby programmer, doing Xbase++ development just for fun. How do I get fixes if I don't buy into the subscription?

As a hobby developer, you may not depend on regular fixes and new features. Instead, it may be more reasonable economically to wait and purchase a regular Subscription after the next major release is published. Regular subscriptions are more expensive, but cheaper than purchasing new product licence(s).

Corrections for problems found in our products are made available to all our customers. Please see our Product Maintenance Policy for details.

Q: Why was the Subscription model changed from 4 deliveries to a period of 12 month?

The Subscription model was not changed: Subscriptions always ran for a period of twelve months! However, in the original concept, Alaska Software planned to ship four Subscription deliveries within the 12 months period. Unfortunately, publishing such a large number of releases in such a short timeframe turned out to be unmanageable both on our and our customers' side. Intend on keeping its initial promise, Alaska Software subsequently began to extend the subscription period, implicitly changing Subscriptions from a time to a delivery based-model. Over time, expectations grew with each delivery shipped, so that finally, Subscription customers began to expect four major product releases with each Subscription purchase.

However, Subscriptions were never designed to deliver four major product releases in the 12 months Subscription period, which makes no sense from an economical perspective, as this makes it impossible to reach a break even on the investments made.

With the release of Xbase++ 1.9 and the introduction of its product maintenance policy, Alaska Software began to deliver Hotfixes and Hotfix-Rollups to Subscription customers. In addition, the decision was made to release new technologies and features in a staged process. This is very much the original idea behind the Subscription service, which was to provide Subscription customers with fixes, product updates and access to new technologies at the earliest possible point in time.

Q: I have bought a Subscription in 2003. As of today, I have received 2 deliveries. what happended to the other two as I have received a subscription renewal notice?

For many of our customers, the long delay until Xbase++ 1.9 became available led to the situation that fewer subscription deliveries were received than originally anticipated. Alaska Software has therefore decided to prolong subscription contracts with outstanding deliveries. Each outstanding delivery was migrated to a time credit, which was subsequently added to the account balance as an extension of the Subscription period. This is why renewal notices have been sent now, after you were provided with access to Hotfix Rollups, individual Hotfixes and Technical Support since the release of 1.9.