DataEase 8.5 is a watershed moment in DataEase history. 

Here we will draw the line between of the old ways and start introducing the modern ways.

You might have gotten a sneak peek of the New player but that is also all you have got. 

From he inception till now, DataEase has been a interactive developer environment where there was very sketchy boundaries between Design Time and Runtime. 

As brilliant this was in the beginning, it has become clearer and clearer that this has become an obstacle. Like many good ideas, they have a expiry date which sadly passed many years ago.

With DE85 we divide development and runtime completely. NOOO! You can still run your application in Developer like before, and we will even make a separate single user developer for personal users, but you will no longer have the ability to run a production version of a system in Developer.

Why?
We love that feature! a lot of you will say and stamp your feet. Yes, but have you asked yourself why you love it or why you choose to run Dataease in the Developer(Full) version of the product instead of the Runtime?

Because the runtime has been awkward and inferior and basically just a pain in the...

Not so any more.

By making Player (runtime) a separate product and business area we will also make it a much better way of running a DataEase application as well as deploying, distributing and maintaining it.

As things stood before the Runtime was awkward and cumbersome because it shared all features with Developer and Developer suffered because it had to double as the actual runtime environment and as such limitations needed to be imposed for "security" reasons.

Now they can both blossom and they already are.

Last week we introduced Full Screen and Kiosk mode in Player, we are redesigning the startup (it will now start up with a designated application) and enter directly into it if there is no username password.

We are creating a separate install package for applications to be deployed so you deploy the application and the install program download the correct player distribution etc.

You are able to full brand your deployed applications etc.

Another big watershed moment in DE85 is the new licensing engine which in consequence will also give us a new licensing regime.

In the bast we have at best had two different licenses:

Full (Developer)
Group (Runtime)
Time (Trial/Time Limited)

In reality the Full/Group was a morally imposed difference as it was the same key, and even the user count has been "morally" imposed as there as been no policing on the fact that users actually complied with the licensing terms.

This has now changed.

Now we will enforce licensing rules, but at the same time we will also make them easier and more targeted.

Up to now  you would have had to pay for the maximum use of DataEase not the actual use i.e. 

If you want to develop an application for the inventory of your home you still had to buy the Full Developer, and if you as a partner resell an application you still would have to buy the full GROUP and if you are going to maintain "in situ" you would have to buy the sell them the full developer.

All very good for us of course if that is how things happened but in reality in lot of cases DataEase is opted out of (for many other reasons too of course) because it is too expensive.

So where we before has only a couple of prices and models, we will now have a matrix where we will direct you to the right one (Bare with us)


Life Time licensing.
This is the old way but we will offer it as long as people want to pay for it. Needless to say an up-front model can be dissuading to a lot of customers that has grown accustomed to "pay for use". With Life time licensing customers will get free 3 months installation support as well as free maintenance for 12 months.

Service Licensing
Buy the service initially for 1,3,6,12 months but the engine gives us freedom to license software by the second so true "pay for use".
Will be available with support, and include free maintenance for the duration.

Developer **
D85 - The traditional Full developer licenses that give you all the rights and all the functions.
T85 - Same as Above but for a limited time.

Player**

P85 - This will allow the player to run any DE85 application like the old Group/Runtime.
A85***- This is a Application Specific that will put Player into real Player mode. It will run only the designated application, and it will start-up directly in this application without any Start-up dialogue etc. except the login dialogue if appropriate.


This is the license most license most Partners will use for deploying their applications. You can install any number of A85 applications in parallel but each application will need their own license.

Seat Licensing (Developer/Player)
S85 - We predict this license to be the most popular license amongst corporate and large multi application users.

This is our most flexible license and we predict it will be the norm for most corporate users in a short time. You simply buy seats (tokens) either in bulk or as you need them.****

Player: 1 Device/1 Application = 1 token
Developer: 1 Devices/1 Application = 5 tokens.

This is the product to buy for companies that Develop/Run their own applications or work closely (on site) with a partner.

You only pay for the number of devices/applications you run/develop.

CO-Licensing - The professional Developer program (Player on steroid).***
B85 - Bundling license. The Partner/Product will share one license built into the application and all usage will be automatically monitored by the partner/DataEase.

This is the program for serious application developers. You will get your own tailor made Player distribution which is 100% branded as your product. Under the CO-Licensing agreement the developer pay 35% of the sales price on any sales as licensing fee to DataEase and as such can sell in any market at any price. If you sell you app for £1 we charge you 35p.

* These licenses will work on player too.
** Will also accept M80 and T80 license keys.
*** Applications distributed under this license can not be modified by Developer in situ, all maintenance/updating need to be done through the Deployment Services.
**** If you choose to License as a Service (timed) you will only be invoiced for the tokens you use so if you pay monthly you will pay for the tokens you use at the beginning of the month, then you pay for the new tokens you buy from the day you buy them to the end of the period when you start using them. If you release tokens in a period, you will not be charged for those tokens from the beginning of next charging period.