Hi Jackene, I don't want to offend, but do you expect to go through life for free? OK, with that observation aside, let's consider the advantage of registering the program (by paying a small fraction of what similarly powerful programs cost). The rest of what follows assumes that you find value in the program and would like to continue using it; if not then don't register and do not use it. FWIW, I am simply a long time user and not an employee, affiliated with or compensated by, AmiBroker, Thomaz or any other entity for my opinion.
The "free" version is offered by Thomaz so you may test drive AmiBroker to see if it really is for you. Not many companies will make such an offer, especially without requiring you to provide a credit card or some other form of assurance that you are serious about their product. Please understand, Thomaz is not doing this for fun. This is his business. He has a family to support, an employee to compensate, and other expenses of making AmiBroker available and evolving. Bandwidth, servers, etc are not free. Thomaz spends an incredible amount of time and effort in both enhancing AmiBroker as well as assisting it's users. Just check the history of this group and the program -- Thomaz is frequently interacting with users and the upgrades and enhancements are continuous. When TA for Stocks and Commodities or some other journal reviews AB, the necessary lead-times for such articles guarantees that they are looking in the rear view mirror and reviewing a product that has already had significant new developments by press time. I have used AB for over ten years, watched it grow from a simple charting interface to the juggernaut that it presently is. Many of the enhancements are the result of users requesting features and for the most part requests have been implemented without extended delay (there are some exceptions of course, but Thomaz has his vision of what AB is, what it can do and where it is going). When a bug is introduced in a beta (a rare thing), it is fixed quickly (usually less than 12 hours). I've never seen MetaStock, TradeStation, eSignal, TC2007, etc. have any such response to users. Registering AB supports this work and gives you a chance to add your own requests for future features. Technical reasons for registering include among other things, ease of operation and support. Last I checked, non-registered versions do not allow saving databases -- I don't know about saving customized metrics, code, etc. Registered users also have access to Beta versions which are frequently released between major upgrades and add additional enhancements. Major upgrades occur a few times a year, so the Betas in essence afford you perhaps 30 plus minor (some not so minor either) upgrades a year. And registered you get access to individual support for any issues or questions you have about using AB. Support doesn't include writing user specific programs or code, but if you are stuck in your own programming or having difficulty understanding how to get something done, you will generally get an answer sometimes within 24 hours or less. I never, never, never got such response from any other comparable program. (QuoteTracker is the only other company with such support, but it is a different product.) And then there are the members of this group, many of whom will be happy to help you understand and use AB. I am one such, but if I suspect you are using an unregistered version beyond the trial period will simply ignore you. Finally, and perhaps most important, is it is the legally and morally correct thing to do. If you want to use someone else's work product, especially if you expect to profit from it's use, you should pay for it. Within the definition of "profit" I would include not only financial profit, but also enjoyment, entrainment, learning, and other reasons why we undertake endeavors in our life. Yes, you can pirate download music, video, books, games, art, software, etc. but unless these are given to you by the owners of the intellectual property it doesn't make it right. If you worked at a job or created something (other than as an upfront volunteer), would you think it right if you were expected to do so for free? By all means, use the free version of AB for the trial period. But then do the right thing and either register the program or delete it from your computer. Peace and Justice --- Patrick ----- Original Message ----- From: jackene To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2010 12:02 PM Subject: [amibroker] amiquote registered version what is the advantage of buying the registered version? I am new to amibroker (pro) version, so please excuse "dumb" questions. also, any suggestions on what is best way to learn the software Thanks ------------------------------------ **** IMPORTANT PLEASE READ **** This group is for the discussion between users only. This is *NOT* technical support channel. TO GET TECHNICAL SUPPORT send an e-mail directly to SUPPORT {at} amibroker.com TO SUBMIT SUGGESTIONS please use FEEDBACK CENTER at http://www.amibroker.com/feedback/ (submissions sent via other channels won't be considered) For NEW RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENTS and other news always check DEVLOG: http://www.amibroker.com/devlog/ Yahoo! Groups Links
