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I have mixed feeling about this. I have a current Mono for Android Profession subscription and use the Visual Studio integration a lot. My subscription is due f

I have mixed feeling about this. I have a current Mono for Android Profession subscription and use the Visual Studio integration a lot. My subscription is due for renewal next month and if I want to continue to use VS with Xamarin 2.0 then I have to renew at the Business edition level. I paid for my sub out of my own pocket because I liked the technology so much, but $399 for the pro version last year was a stretch and I just can't justify $1k to renew. Xamarin Studio might be superb, but I've been using VS since 1995 and I really don't need to learn another new IDE right now. Any comments from Miguel or anyone from Xamarin? That said, the Indie edition is something that a lot or people were asking for and the price is attractive. The components look good too. I think its going to be a big success. Edit: See Nat Friedman's response below [1]. Existing Pro subscribers are automatically upgraded to Business and can renew at their existing renewal price. This is described in the FAQ [2] which I didn't read far enough down. [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5250922 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5250922 [2] http://xamarin.com/xamarin-2.0-faq http://xamarin.com/xamarin-2.0-faq

itsnotvalid 14y ago
As much as the store page confused me, so you can't use the product after the end of your subscription (that is, the license is NOT perpetual)? I mean, would you be able to compile or release anything after the expiration of your current subscription?
- andyjohnson0 14y ago
  The licence is perpetual. The subscription entitles you to updates for a year. I had a lot of updates over the last year and was very satisfied with the value for money that I got.
- jstedfast 14y ago
  You can continue to compile and release even after your subscription expires, you just don't get updates to Xamarin's products.
natfriedman 14y ago
As an existing Professional customer you are automatically upgraded to Business edition and can renew at you existing renewal price (which is $249 for you). Hope that helps :-)
- keithwarren 14y ago
  How long will renewals be this cheap, just the first time around?
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - natfriedman 14y ago
    We don't have an end date.
- andyjohnson0 14y ago
  Thanks for the clarification Nat. Thats really good to hear and I'm looking forward to trying the new tools over the next few days.
keithwarren 14y ago
I am in the same boat but starting to recognize that the free train of tooling is a ploy of platform vendors trying to pull us in to working in their area. Microsoft can afford to do this because they extract major value on the back end when we target windows with apps. A cross platform, non-allied company like Xamarin doesn't benefit from that back door revenue as they make no money from my app. It is a tough bill to swallow but the problem seems to be our perspective, free wasn't always free. $399 was a young company trying to gain traction with a small team and if we want bigger, faster, stronger then it costs. Sucks, but after 10+ years of consulting in the Windows space I realize that cross-plat mobile is my next 10 years and in that light, 1K is not that bad.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- natfriedman 14y ago
  In fact we lowered all prices today. Our lowest tier, previously, cost $399. Now it costs $299. Our highest tier, previously, cost $2499. Now it costs $1899.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - itsnotvalid 14y ago
    Then apparently the new pricing model is much more expensive to start with, since there is no longer discounts for renewals. Just to compare apples with apples, here is the difference in pricing:- old: 999 first time and 599 for upgrades for "enterprise", 399 first and 249 for upgrades for "professional" and company with 10 or less people; new: flat rate 999 for any companies (2+ people) and 299 (only for single person) Sorry this may sound bitchy , I just don't like price-ups as I live in a location where inflation is killing me (and the salary is like half of what US rates are so software are twice as expensive in that thinking). I am not against price ups and it's always better to be an early customer, but one a longer run, new customers (or existing customers as well if they don't get the upgrade price after the first renewal) is definitely paying more. That greatly affects small businesses because they can no longer use lower tier one just to get the juices with cross-platform joy on a more affordable rate.
exhilaration 14y ago
If you need to develop Android apps using VS, have you looked at dot42: https://www.dot42.com/ https://www.dot42.com/
- andyjohnson0 14y ago
  Looks interesting. If you've used it, what are your impressions?
  - exhilaration 14y ago
    No but I plan to try it soon. Their free community version has no limitations except that you can't charge for the apps you put in the Google Play Store.
ghuntley 14y ago
The following YouTube video summarizes exactly how I felt after reading the announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1dQTr7dNnsc#t=15s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v... VS2012 integration w/OSX build host. Oh yeah. Pricing changes have positives and some potential major negatives - In my eyes the "pay money to get started" approach served as a nice filter against pathological customers/mechanism to balance signal to noise. The introduction of a free tier generates mixed feelings within. Xamarin please, please don't allow the inevitable eternal september that will follow to become a distraction. Seen it happen it happen a few times - forums/support become overrun with noise and the companies were inadequately prepared staffing wise for the eternal september, with staff unable to keep up the resulting quality of product/support dropped considerably. From a different perspective the introduction of a free their now makes the toolchain available to those whom could not possibly pay for it - students and countries with weaker purchasing power. (where $xxxUSD is equates to x months/a years wage)

itsnotvalid 14y ago

As much as the store page confused me, so you can't use the product after the end of your subscription (that is, the license is NOT perpetual)? I mean, would you be able to compile or release anything after the expiration of your current subscription?

andyjohnson0 14y ago
The licence is perpetual. The subscription entitles you to updates for a year. I had a lot of updates over the last year and was very satisfied with the value for money that I got.
jstedfast 14y ago
You can continue to compile and release even after your subscription expires, you just don't get updates to Xamarin's products.

natfriedman 14y ago

As an existing Professional customer you are automatically upgraded to Business edition and can renew at you existing renewal price (which is $249 for you). Hope that helps :-)

keithwarren 14y ago
How long will renewals be this cheap, just the first time around?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- natfriedman 14y ago
  We don't have an end date.
andyjohnson0 14y ago
Thanks for the clarification Nat. Thats really good to hear and I'm looking forward to trying the new tools over the next few days.

keithwarren 14y ago

I am in the same boat but starting to recognize that the free train of tooling is a ploy of platform vendors trying to pull us in to working in their area. Microsoft can afford to do this because they extract major value on the back end when we target windows with apps. A cross platform, non-allied company like Xamarin doesn't benefit from that back door revenue as they make no money from my app. It is a tough bill to swallow but the problem seems to be our perspective, free wasn't always free. $399 was a young company trying to gain traction with a small team and if we want bigger, faster, stronger then it costs. Sucks, but after 10+ years of consulting in the Windows space I realize that cross-plat mobile is my next 10 years and in that light, 1K is not that bad.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
natfriedman 14y ago
In fact we lowered all prices today. Our lowest tier, previously, cost $399. Now it costs $299. Our highest tier, previously, cost $2499. Now it costs $1899.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- itsnotvalid 14y ago
  Then apparently the new pricing model is much more expensive to start with, since there is no longer discounts for renewals. Just to compare apples with apples, here is the difference in pricing:- old: 999 first time and 599 for upgrades for "enterprise", 399 first and 249 for upgrades for "professional" and company with 10 or less people; new: flat rate 999 for any companies (2+ people) and 299 (only for single person) Sorry this may sound bitchy , I just don't like price-ups as I live in a location where inflation is killing me (and the salary is like half of what US rates are so software are twice as expensive in that thinking). I am not against price ups and it's always better to be an early customer, but one a longer run, new customers (or existing customers as well if they don't get the upgrade price after the first renewal) is definitely paying more. That greatly affects small businesses because they can no longer use lower tier one just to get the juices with cross-platform joy on a more affordable rate.

exhilaration 14y ago

If you need to develop Android apps using VS, have you looked at dot42: https://www.dot42.com/ https://www.dot42.com/

andyjohnson0 14y ago
Looks interesting. If you've used it, what are your impressions?
- exhilaration 14y ago
  No but I plan to try it soon. Their free community version has no limitations except that you can't charge for the apps you put in the Google Play Store.

ghuntley 14y ago

The following YouTube video summarizes exactly how I felt after reading the announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1dQTr7dNnsc#t=15s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v... VS2012 integration w/OSX build host. Oh yeah. Pricing changes have positives and some potential major negatives - In my eyes the "pay money to get started" approach served as a nice filter against pathological customers/mechanism to balance signal to noise. The introduction of a free tier generates mixed feelings within. Xamarin please, please don't allow the inevitable eternal september that will follow to become a distraction. Seen it happen it happen a few times - forums/support become overrun with noise and the companies were inadequately prepared staffing wise for the eternal september, with staff unable to keep up the resulting quality of product/support dropped considerably. From a different perspective the introduction of a free their now makes the toolchain available to those whom could not possibly pay for it - students and countries with weaker purchasing power. (where $xxxUSD is equates to x months/a years wage)