Your opinion on "demo" restrictions?

xyloFUN

Hi,
I am wondering something ....

In a few days, I'm planning on making all my software available for the Windows platform but since i am just establishing a brand and nether xyloFUN.eu nor LittleComposers.net well knows, I am thinking of giving visitors a free version to download.

Here is the catch ... sort of!

What should/would you do?
Make it so that it expires in xx days and then pop up a window inviting users to go to my web page to buy a cheap license key?
Have the software run 10 minutes (but not time limited) and then display a msg to visit the web page and buy a key?
Or, have the software run until a certain date and than expire?

i don't want to annoy people but i can't make a living if no one buys the software and I can't count on Apple as the majority of computers out there run windows and that will not change for a while.

Any input on this would help me a lot to choose the best way to implement this so that they have a reason to download and I can get a few sales

thanks

gyroscope

Hi xyloFUN, the first and third option can't be done within GS at the moment unfortunately. So this leaves your second suggestion, i.e having the software running for 10 minutes. But this wouldn't be able to be unlocked with an Apple-generated key.

I think that if you you want to go down this route, your best bet is to have two seperate apps, the 10 minute (Lite) version, which would have a link to the full version.

Hope that helps! :-)

xyloFUN

gyroscope,
i should have made that more clear, sorry

I am talking about windows versions of the GS apps and there i have those features via the installer script. What I would like to know is which version of the "demo" would be the least annoying to people since I do want them to download ....

If those of you who are into developing commercial software chime in, I can safe myself a few mishaps ...

Anyway, in time, things will become more clear but the the basic idea is that the releases in the app store will generate additional traffic to my page so i'd like to have extra stuff there for them to download!

thanks

tenrdrmer

the most common demo is gonna be xx days from installation. 7, 14, or 30 i think would also be the most common.

if you didn't want to do that I have seen some demos do a open x number of times. the problem there is they just don't have to close it.

I dont think anyone will be annoyed at a number of days limit as most trial versions of software do the same thing. You will probably have more success give full functionality for several days then having no time limit but limited functionality

xyloFUN

tenrdrmer,
that makes a lot of sense plus, I have the option to show an image when the software closes which I could remove for the payed versions. I know I wont charge a lot for the apps ... just a few Dollars to make it worth the time it takes to generate the key and email it to them.
The windows apps features a large screen with a nice, web page like, interface and i'm thinking of asking maybe for $4.99 ... maybe even less .... will see.

quantumsheep

Do you have a save feature on your app? Perhaps disabling that will allow people to try it out, and if they like it, they'll want to save their progress/songs learned etc etc.

You could then charge your $4.99 for switching on the save feature, as well as adding a few other bits you've conveniently left off the demo!

Something to think about maybe, but not sure if it's applicable to you!

Cheers,

QS

xyloFUN

good point quantumsheep,
basically, what makes the downloadable software different from the online version is better sounds bigger screen size plus, perhaps included videos (not sure about that just yet).
My main goal is to give everybody the full application to test out since i will not be offering a money back option as that would create too much hassle for the little money involved.
I figure if someone can run it for a while, they would know that it works on their computer and after that period has expired, I offer them a deal when/if they visit the web page to purchase a key for a few bucks.

Lots to think about ... but if i get the right balance, it will pay off