I've got some mixed feelings about this.
And as I read Alex's letter and the following thread, it got me thinking.
I'll admit that I've only paid for a few of the retail programs that are on my device. I usually rationalized that "this should have been part of a device like this anyway" or "that's way more expensive than it
should be". If the developer seemed reasonable and offered a good product w/good support, I paid. Upgrades were another catch (in my mind)~ if a reasonable upgrade price wasn't part of the deal, then I'd find the upgrade for free.
Now I'm reconsidering what is
reasonable. And considering paying for a few of the programs that I've been using that I haven't used regularly or have used past the trial period.
I also realize that it's not the developers' fault that MS didn't include some of this functionality in their devices.
Now I need to go and add up how much all this software will cost to register legally and how much I can actually afford.
Grrr.
UPDATE: Holy crap. To pay for all the retail software that I use (or sometimes use) on my PPC would cost
$221.46. And that doesn't include some of the "add-on" stuff like some themes/skins (although I don't use many of those) & some games that I wouldn't even know how to find the prices for (and would probably not install if I had to pay for them).
I'm going to start paying for some, but I'll probably pay for different ones over time as upgrades come out...
Geez. I had no idea I had so much stuff.