Are you not happy with v. 8? What doesn't it do that you want it to do, or you want it to do better?
I only ask because it meets every one of my backup-imaging needs, and it does so extremely well.
The issue is not about what V8 can do.
The issue is about how much we have to pay in future to get a fully supported version.
Anybody who has purchased it, has a perpetual licence, and it is supported for up to 1 year after V9 comes out (based on previous experience).
Once V8 is no longer supported, of course we can carry on using it until a day comes where some change in Windows breaks V8. This has happened but a workaround fix was issued by the Reflect Team very promptly. We are no longer guaranteed to get such a fix once support expires.
The point is that there is no guarantee that V8 will work in perpetuity but who knows? V7 still works.
However, for of us those who like keeping up to date with Reflect are now faced with a huge rise in costs if using multiple licences.
I used to buy a new 4 pack licence on Black Friday, and pay £50ish for 4 licences. Now we cannot buy a four pack, best we can hope for is to upgrade existing 4 pack @ 50% discount i.e. £100ish.
No matter how I look at it, costs will double for me personally if I choose to keep up to date, and hugely increase even more if I decide to go down lease route.
Even if offered a cheap lease deal, how likely is it that the deal will last forever?
At best, I will only update my single V8 licence (if that is offered) to V9. I certainly will not lease V9.
However, I will not pay to upgrade my 4-pack V8 licence - I will just risk using it it ad infinitum, and hope something in Windows causes it to break. In the end, if it does, I will use an alternative package (loads of options) and just accept reduced flexibility.
In simple terms, Paramount will only get £25ish for a single upgrade from me (assuming they retain 50% off for an upgrade). Previously, I would have bought a new 4 pack for £50ish as well on Black Friday. So in future, Paramount will only get 33% of revenue from me.
I am not prepared to pay £125ish to upgrade 5 licences.
As for paying leases - forget it.
If Paramount think their new terms are going to generate more cash, I think they are sadly deluded - the loss of revenue from loyal customers could easily wipe out new user revenue.
I am no longer prepared to recommend Reflect to new users as I no longer think the benefits (over other tools) is worth it.
I kind of wonder how Paramount expect to generate new sales without us "unpaid marketers" recommending them.
Have they shot themselves in the foot? Time will tell.
