PC dies with Altium on it (expired subscription).

[VK3DRB]

Hi.

My subscription is due in May and I am in two minds whether I will pay the $$$ for a new subscription; maybe preferring to update every 3 years or so.

Let's assume my PC dies and the hard drive cannot be recovered, and my on-demand license has expired and I have not renewed the license. Can I still download the last Altium release I used when I had subscription and continue to use the license as on-demand?

[T3sl4co1l]

Read your license terms.  The normal one is not locked to a PC and is usable forever, only the subscription (access to updated software and vault content) lapses.

Tim

[tszaboo]

They tell you, that you cannot renew subscription later. You have to keep paying or buy a new license later.
It's a scare tactic, probably illegal, and they will take your money if you insist. I'm just telling you so you know about it.

[VK3DRB]

Read your license terms.  The normal one is not locked to a PC and is usable forever, only the subscription (access to updated software and vault content) lapses.

Tim

So that means Altium hosts the full version of every release on their server, so you can download the last version that you had prior to the subscription lapsing?

[VK3DRB]

They tell you, that you cannot renew subscription later. You have to keep paying or buy a new license later.
It's a scare tactic, probably illegal, and they will take your money if you insist. I'm just telling you so you know about it.

Having been an Altium user since it began (and prior to that a Protel user), I have found Altium is usually negotiable. I usually strive for two year's subscription for the price of one. After all, a few grand in their bank (at almost no cost) is better than nothing. Also, they do have upgrade specials from time to time to entice the laggards back onto subscription.

The biggest scare is if the last version you used had a killer bug - you are stuck with it if you don't upgrade. I think it is immoral to have to pay for bug fixes, but Microsoft under that bloody Gates did that for years and got away with it. There is a saying in Australia... "It isn't Altium if it hasn't got bugs." Even with Altium 21, I have had it close immediately without warning, and on another occasion lock up requiring task manager to kill it. You expect better quality assurance for a tool costing so much.

[Gerhard_dk4xp]

I run it on a VMware virtual machine and keep versions of everything that happens to work.
Libs and designs are on a different partition, the C: partition with the OS and most of the CAD
I need is just a 150 GB folder on the host. Many of them fit on an external 4 TB disk.
Be sure to "power down" a virtual machine before saving.
With a mouse click you can pull the network plug. Then even an unsupported WIN7 is quite safe.

When a machine fails, like after my AD21 "upgrade", I throw it away and
continue with a fresh copy. And a new hardware machine is not more work
than installing VMware Workstation or -Player and copying the folder.

And when asked always answer "I moved it" or you get new virtual MAC
addresses. Some installed programs might not like that.

Gerhard

[olkipukki]

Let's assume my PC dies and the hard drive cannot be recovered, and my on-demand license has expired and I have not renewed the license. Can I still download the last Altium release I used when I had subscription and continue to use the license as on-demand?

If you didn't renew the subscription that affected on the continuous support and other benefits that you can see here*

On-demand license never exipires and allows to install on any number of PCs, but simultaneously use only at one.
Also, you can select 'Roam' option with NNNNN days and avoid connectivity to Altium servers on each app launch.

In short, your on-demand license is perpetual by default (if no special case), subscription (aka maintenance) is always time-based


*
https://www.altium.com/subscription

[olkipukki]

They tell you, that you cannot renew subscription later. You have to keep paying or buy a new license later.
It's a scare tactic, probably illegal, and they will take your money if you insist. I'm just telling you so you know about it.

Never heard these, the default approach as everywhere - you will pay a catch up fee (in worst case).

[olkipukki]

So that means Altium hosts the full version of every release on their server, so you can download the last version that you had prior to the subscription lapsing?

Yup

[ajb]

On demand licenses that are in use on another machine can also be remotely released, so even if your computer dies while you're actively using altium you'll be able to release it from a new PC and keep using it.  Although I don't know what happens if you've roamed that license on the PC before it dies.  That might end up needing a call to support.

I guess it depends on the region, but they do seem to be quite open to negotiating on renewal price, at least in the US.  The also occasionally run promos, like at the end of the year they had a deal for blanket 1yr renewal for <US$1000, with no penalty for lapsed subscriptions. 

[VK3DRB]

On demand licenses that are in use on another machine can also be remotely released, so even if your computer dies while you're actively using altium you'll be able to release it from a new PC and keep using it.  Although I don't know what happens if you've roamed that license on the PC before it dies.  That might end up needing a call to support.

I guess it depends on the region, but they do seem to be quite open to negotiating on renewal price, at least in the US.  The also occasionally run promos, like at the end of the year they had a deal for blanket 1yr renewal for <US$1000, with no penalty for lapsed subscriptions.

I found renewing a license at the end of the year is not ideal, because that is when Altium does a major release. I suggest Altium capitalises on this because that is when the discounts appear, so users tend to renew to ensure they end up with a relatively stable version. In Australia, the end of financial year is June 30, not Dec 31. The best time is to get into sync is probably around mid year when many of the bugs are ironed out in the new release (except for the ubiquitous crashing). And sometimes before new year they have specials on.

In retrospect I wish I had simply invested the $10,000 cost in Altium shares in 2011 rather than buying it. That $10,000 would now be worth $3.3 million  .

[olkipukki]

Although I don't know what happens if you've roamed that license on the PC before it dies.  That might end up needing a call to support.

That's not really issue, you just release it from another computer...
 
https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-designer/client-dlg-forcereleaseroamingconfirmationformaltium-honor-code-ad?version=20.1

[JoaoBeck_Altium]

Hey guys,

I work at Altium and I would like to clarify a few questions here:

What happens if your subscription lapses or you decide not to renew for a while?
If you lapse for a few months there might be an extra fee per month charged on top of your subscription.
If you decide not to renew for a year, 2 years, or more there will be a fee per year on top of the subscription cost to get you back in it. The fee will reach a maximum. If I am not mistaken it's 3 years or more. I just want to be clear that upgrading a license will never cost the same as purchasing a new license, unless the license is not perpetual it is actually time-based. (I would say that in extreme cases it can be up to half of a new license cost).
You will always be able to renew and upgrade your Altium Designer Perpetual license.

What if I stop paying for the subscription and the last version, I was entitled to, has a major bug?
You are entitled UP TO the version you quit subscription, you will still have access to previous releases that are more stable. You can find a list of available installers on our website download section. There is a dropdown list with many previous releases. When you select the version you can also check the release date to find out if you are entitled to it.
If you cannot find a specific release that you were really comfortable with, go to our website and ask for the offline installer there. They should be able to send you a download link for it.


I'll be on the lookout for Altium questions I might be able to answer. I have just joined the forum.


Joao Beck

[ajawamnet]

Use a standalone ALF file... It's good forever. That's what I've done since they started the network/on-demand licensing silly shit way back when. We have machines that sit behind One Way Transfers -  see the patent for one here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8250235B2/en . So we have no access to the internet.   With the ALF file you have control of you disaster recovery. Just maintain backups of the ALF file and Full Installer of the version your ALF is good for (full installers are available on their Downloads section). Back the shit up of those on multiple media and you're good to go on any machine you may buy. 

Even tho the Altium guys hate me I have to say that there is three things good about Altium:

1. a simple licensing scheme using a simple license file. Just like it used to be. Control over your own destiny. This is in-line with the "edict" found in the Fenwick and West document (the guys that did the first shrink wrap for Apple back in 1975) - see page 13 of the PDF  http://www.fenwick.com/FenwickDocuments/Patent_Licensing.pdf

Did you ever wonder why Adobe and Autodesk killed licensing?  This is why...  Conversely, if you RENT software the user is at risk of not being able to open his own Intellectual Property at a later date WITHOUT interaction with the rentor.  This creates some interesting legal issues that have yet to be fully hashed out in precedents of various courts. One of the things that you have to consider when using a restrictive license like Autodesk or  even a cookie jar type license from Solidworks.

You could end up with a bunch of files of YOUR DESIGNS  in a proprietary format that you can no longer access.  Recall your designs are your property. Having to rely on or get permission from a third party to exploit your work is questionable at best.  Be interesting to see this tested in court. Autodesk vs. Vernor was just the beginning (even tho Vernor may have been violating copyright laws - not sure).


2. you can have multiple versions installed side-by-side. In fact, if you use custom install directory names you can have point versions installed in parallel  - ask any seasoned user on the Altium forum - it's the way to make sure a new version with bugs doesn't hose your ability to get stuff done

3. Earlier versions of Altium will for the most part open files saved in later versions. Even the Host Dave mentioned this in response to one of my rants -  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/altium/a365/msg3189118/#msg3189118 and when he worked there.  I will say that some of what might be in an AD21 file can get funky in something like AD15. But an example is the stuff created in the new Layer Stack Manger - things like Rules that are based on impedance set in the LSM Impedance tabs - converts to plain generic rules with the correct values in previous versions like AD17.  Pretty cool.

[PlainName]

Earlier versions of Altium will for the most part open files saved in later versions

I have Summer 09 viewer installed just to be able to look at designs without fear or changing anything. Works with V21 projects, albeit magic strings referring project parameters don't resolve. You get a page displayed of things it doesn't know about and that you should bear in mind, but otherwise it's fine.

[Elasia]

Use a standalone ALF file... It's good forever.

+1... i used to not bother.. that is one day until my altium rep saw i leave the app open all the time and gave me some grief when haggling.  I shut down that non sense in a hurry.. i dont connect to their servers less i need something.. i prefer not to be spied on.