Nero5.5 update delay...here's why

[Dr Mordrid]

So....Nero 5.5 is in the stores but not on the website for upgraders. Why? I received this from Ahead today on why;

"we have problems with the web installer.

The program is running but we are still working on the perfect installer,.

Kind regards"

Guess that explains that....

Dr. Mordrid

[IM_Riktar]

Ok maybe it's dumb to ask (Wouldn't be the first time for that) but WTF does that mean?

[Dr Mordrid]

My interpetation:

They can't figure out how to stop hackers from cracking the installer. Not enough reason to hold it offline IMHO since eventually they will make a serial cracker no matter how much protection they put into it

Dr. Mordrid

[Pace]

What's so good about Nero 5.5? I've been using Adaptec Easy CD 3.5 (OEM) for a long while now, and the only feature that I'd like is MP3>CDA support (which I believe it does have, but I think most new burning s/w has it too).

Why do you like Nero over the other options (like WinOnCD/Adaptec)?

Thanks,

P.

[Dr Mordrid]

Nero 5.5 will have fully menued VCD AND SVCD capability along with it's own built-in MPEG encoder.

Dr. Mordrid

[Pace]

Ok! Thanks Doc

Regards,

Paul.

[BrianP]

I dunno, it's kind of hard to get jazzed about SVCD anymore with the DVD-R recorders coming down the pike. Last year it would have been a big deal, but I'm paying a lot more attention to the DVD authoring programs from Sonic and Spruce these days.

[Indiana]

I've seen a cracked copy of Nero5.5 some days ago, so it's damn stupid to not release the upgrade version since the program already IS cracked and "available".
The way they're behaving the (few) honest users are nearly forced to use a cracked copy when they can't get their upgrade otherwise for such a long time.

P.S: Sorry, I don't want to start another warez discussion, but it makes me angry when companys are putting stupid crack-protections on their programs that are only hindering/annoying the legal user and the ones who just "get" their cracked copy off the net don't have to put up with this.
Fact is, there will be a cracked version, regardless whatever copy-protection is implemented - so why bother at all? I have used cracked versions of programs even though I had bought legal copies earlier simply because the cracked versions had all the features I'd expect from a good program: they were fully installable to HD, didn't include a dongle (the most foolish way to annoy/scare away honest users), or ...*insert your "favourite" restricting copy-protection mechanism here*

[Dr Mordrid]

I agree. There is always going to be a certain level of warez no matter what they do. All this nonsense does is drive up the cost to both the developer and the consumer.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 21 April 2001).]

[Brian Ellis]

Indiana

I'm sorry, I must disagree with you re dongles. If you have a very high-tech software costing thousands a go (e.g. a specialised CAD application) with each client requiring 2 to 50 of them, each with individual configuration variations, then a dongle is the only valid way of ensuring that each workstation has the software that it needs, thereby reducing costs to the end-user by avoiding having to pay for a complete system each time. I have sold, in a past life, many such dongled systems at prices up to $30k a time, with partial applications down to about $1k. I have never had anyone complain about the dongles, because they actually pay far less than they would do otherwise. As for cracking dongles, it is fairly easy if they are the commercial types sold by third-party manufacturers. Our dongles were (and still are) designed in-house and, to the best of my knowledge, no one has succeeded in cracking them since they were introduced in 1983/4, despite the potential financial advantage of doing so, at $20-30k a go. I am all for high-security dongles where they are justified, which obviously is not the case in non-professional markets, such as the one this forum refers to.

------------------
Brian (the terrible)

[dchip]

I hope when Ahead gets all this worked out they will stand behind their prior statement that the upgrade will be at no cost to 5.0 owners.

[Dr Mordrid]

That free update is for 5.0 purchasers only. For those who received free 5.0 updates from 4.x they have to pay, I believe, $19 USD.

Dr. Mordrid

[Indiana]

Brian, if your dongles were not cracked, this is just because your program is of no interest to general users, not because it wouldn't be possible (just remove the parts of program-code that are checking for the dongles, easy as that - and if you check for them multiple times then remove every one of them. Besides the harder your copy-protection the more motivation for those "cRaCkErZ" to remove it. Sometimes programs are just cracked to show "hey look, we can do it"....

The only dongle that can't be cracked is a dongle that actually has some functionality (there was a MAC-emulator for the Amiga some years ago that contained some hardware with real MAC serial/SCSI-ports and such).

I agree with you that a dongle is more acceptable in a case like yours cause these programs are usually run on dedicated systems, but I still think there would be more convenient ways. The dongle just avoids that Joe average can use multiple copies of your software and this can be accomplished by other/cheaper solutions as well

[Michel Carleer]

Indiana,
Even having part of the code or hardware emulators in a dongle can be cracked: after all, what's in a dongle is only a piece of software and it is not too difficult to replace it by some code running in the PC itself.
In a previous life (DOS time) I played a bit with protection removal, just for the fun. I can tell you by experience that no protection scheme is ever safe, ALL can be cracked and removed. I removed all sorts of protections, software, dongles, copy protections, even protection schemes in which extra registries in the CPU itself were used to transmit info from one part of the software to another. And with time, experience growing, after a while it goes so fast that it's not even funny anymore. Then you stop doing it.
Boy, that was some 20 years ago.
Michka

[hippie91]

i agree about the ease of cracking a dongle... i've seen versions of 3ds max and maya cracked to not need a dongle. both are expensive programs, especially maya.