Softwares.. BUY vs DOWNLOAD

[jamal1984]

ok don't know if i should post this or not. But.....

What's the differences about go and purchase a authentic Software in store or online VS download it's illegaly in full version?

Let's say about Photoshop. i see it's can go up to $700 bucks for the entire version if you purchase it in store,
but you can download it's from the net for free.

I know if you are in business and photographer you should buy it instead of download it illegal.
But do most of your in here buy it download it?

[Bob_VT]

Higher end software ..... I usually but outright so I have all the original cd's and properly register it. MY PS is original.

There are some programs I have purchased on-line and downloaded.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by jamal1984

ok don't know if i should post this or not. But.....

What's the differences about go and purchase a authentic Software in store or online VS download it's illegaly in full version?

You don't get upgrades and tech support with the illegal version. This is a big big deal if you get a bug and need to finish what you start.

Originally Posted by jamal1984

Let's say about Photoshop. i see it's can go up to $700 bucks for the entire version if you purchase it in store, but you can download it's from the net for free.

I know if you are in business and photographer you should buy it instead of download it illegal. But do most of your in here buy it download it?

I buy it. I look at it this way - the time I spend to download and self support isn't worth the "savings" of not paying for the ware. In the past I did get pirated stuff and it wasn't worth the bother because I'd hit a "roadblock" and could not get the support nor upgrades.

This was especially the case with Compilers, which tend to be buggy from the get go. It's almost vital that you have support.

Gnu and the FSF have a lot of free stuff. You can also get "trial" versions and shareware. I just upgraded my Java and saw a splash screen for a version of Office that is free.

There is almost no good reason to pirate software today, unless you're really poor and cannot afford it, or you just want the challenge of supporting yourself. In any other sense it's a false economy. The time you spend on self support and the antics of keeping it on the down low are better spent on productive work.

Gene

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by PK198105

although i tend to agree with you Gene, most of the after sales support is garbage, each time i called customer support for software related problems i would either get the excuse that it was my hardware or the tech would tell me the same things i already knew. the only software that has good support in my opinion is CATIA by Dassault Systems and the free softwares. all others the techs are clueless.

I use Codesourcery software for ARM processors. Their tech support is first rate.

Thanks for the tip on CATIA. I'll pass it "upstairs". Though some of the folks where I work may have an issue with French software we do have some folks from overseas who are rising up in the heirarchy. We also have a Francophile in upper management.

They also make.... Solid Works. Good stuff, but very very resource intensive. when SW works though, it does amazing stuff.

Gene

[PaidTimeOff]

If you really want some software but don't wanna pay for it OR download it illegally there are usually some free open source software that works almost or just as well as the original paid version.

A couple examples:

Photoshop = Gimp
Ms Office = OpenOffice

[id3379]

torrent 4 life.

[lita_g]

I hate the idea of paying $600-$700 for software I'm going to use just for personal use/for fun, and downloading sometimes can get complicated when you spend a lot of time trying to get a serial number that works. I would pay for software for personal use if it wasn't so overpriced, I don't need their support, so I don't need to pay extra fees either. Nowadays I'm sticking with open source, it works well and it leaves my conscience clean.

[Stargate YARlantIS]

My Adobe Photoshop 6 is original, as well as the Premier Elements 4..(work paid for it hehe)

Although I have no idea how to use half of it..lol

[TinyGiant]

software is like MP3 probably 85% of the programs people have on their computer are dowloaded..

if photoshop costs 900 bux or something stupid like that people wont buy it.. if they can get it for free they will.. So it doesnt even really hurt the companies that make the software because those getting the illegal way probably wouldnt have purchased the program in the first place because of the over inflated cost of the program.

if software companies wanted to make serious cash.. they would make all programs 20-40$ then they would probably quadruple the sales and make more money than selling a $900 program here and there..

[id3379]

Originally Posted by TinyGiant

software is like MP3 probably 85% of the programs people have on their computer are dowloaded..

if photoshop costs 900 bux or something stupid like that people wont buy it.. if they can get it for free they will.. So it doesnt even really hurt the companies that make the software because those getting the illegal way probably wouldnt have purchased the program in the first place because of the over inflated cost of the program.

if software companies wanted to make serious cash.. they would make all programs 20-40$ then they would probably quadruple the sales and make more money than selling a $900 program here and there..

+1

[TheRealEnth]

Thats right, I download mostly everything because no way can i afford that price. Windows for example is ridiculously priced =P. You can get a... "not authentic" one and still get all the updates. Everytime i feel like upgrading i shouldn't have to fork over 400$ =(

[DFA]

Actually, the last piece of software I remember buying was Guild Wars. And that's because you need a unique serial to be able to play.

I was given Gothic III as a gift, but I don't think it counts since I bought it.

PS, Antivirus&Firewall, Windows, Office, tons of games, utilities... even ~50GB worth of MP3s. You name it, it's on my hard drive free of charge.

Yeah, it's a hassle and a pain in the ass to install most times but hey..

[TinyGiant]

i bought a copy of windows when i bought some PCs that i built for my dad and I .. and games i will normally buy... like you said you need the serials for online play. but i leave my gaming to my PS3 now . so i'm stuck buying games (which i only do 1-2 times a year)

when i had my xbox it was modded to store games on the HDD .. i had about 90 games that i could play without the disks.. that was a great feature.. the games for the PS3 are so huge size wise it wouldnt be worth trying to copy them to the HDD

[50MPGDream]

Originally Posted by PaidTimeOff

If you really want some software but don't wanna pay for it OR download it illegally there are usually some free open source software that works almost or just as well as the original paid version.

A couple examples:

Photoshop = Gimp
Ms Office = OpenOffice

I have nothing on my computer that is not legally allowed to be there, my operating system, all programs are all either opensource or freeware, and I own all the CD's that go along with every .ogg (its like an .mp3)

[TinyGiant]

i use openoffice (Neooffice for mac)

i love it

[jamal1984]

thanks for all your comments,
the reason i ask because 90% of my classmate who do graphic designs and web designers are all downloaded their softwares illegal way, i was so surprised about that.
Last time i bought Photoshop Element 6 for almost $100 bucks, it's a very good program but my friend told me that i could get them on the net from google for less than 10 minutes FREE "it's true".

[TinyGiant]

if you want to be legit you can probably buy a licence for the software from your school. they get a discounted rate.. or if they have the software at the school