> I have just downloaded SP3 for EDA98 from the archive but there was no > onscreen form to fill out. Try protel.com.au instead of protel .com. > > I used the Jan 2000 archive > > Ian Capps
Maybe Altium really don't still have a copy of SP3 for EDA98, or SP1 for EDA3, but I for one would be surprised if that really was the case. (That would also be ironic to boot, in that they would then be dependant upon their customers to provide such files if they ever wanted to create an archive of previous releases of software.) So I believe that in all probability they *do* still have a copy of these files (even though they seem to have assessed that there is no longer a case for having them available for download from Protel's Website(s)). As such, it would not be impossible for them to provide copies of this file to those who requested it. (From their own records, they should be able to determine whether anyone requesting either of these files is a legitimate owner of EDA3 or EDA98, and even if they didn't (still) have such records, the provision of such SPs, *by themselves*, would be of no use to anyone.) A possible reason that comes to mind as to why these SPs are not being provided to those requesting them is that the users would supposedly then have a greater incentive to purchase (or upgrade to) the most recent version of Protel. OTOH, such an attitude could be regarded as customer-hostile, and provide such customers with an incentive to seek out who else is providing CAD applications. I have mentioned previously (though over a year ago) about an experience in my previous job, in which my then-employer had purchased a Cooper and Chyan/Specctra auto-routing package. At the time that this was provided, no indication was given that the associated dongle could be destroyed if it was connected to the wrong type of parallel port, or if the parallel port was not correctly configured. As such, we managed to destroy two dongles before figuring out, largely by ourselves, that we should connect the dongle to a "classic" parallel port (to which end we purchased an ISA bus plugin PCB providing such a port). The time came when my PC was replaced by a faster model (from a 100MHz 486 to a 200MHz Pentium, if I recall correctly). And while I shifted the plugin parallel port card from my old PC to my new PC, Specctra still did not run on my new PC, and we figured that this (PC) was too fast for the version of Specctra that had been purchased. Advice was solicited from various parties as to how this problem could be overcome, but no feedback was provided to that end, other than to upgrade to the most recent version of Specctra (which would have cost at least as much as the original purchase). In due course, Simon Peacock (who also used to work for the same company, and who is another member of this forum) discovered, from a posting to a newsgroup (sci.electronics.cad?), that the fix was to declare some Environment variables which would then inform the software how fast the PC was running. After I did that, the software then ran OK on my new PC (in reality, as well as it was given to running; I recall at least one occasion when I had visions of the software running overnight, but it refused to start (before I knocked off work for the day) following at least six attempts to achieve that, on the belief that I had turned the PC's clock back (which I had *not* done at the time)). All up, a story with unhappy aspects. (I haven't mentioned all of the details that brassed me off at the time, and it probably wouldn't be prudent for me to do so, but I'll settle for saying that some people underline why most cultures insist upon marriage before children.) It's an old saying that monopolies don't have to apologise to their customers. However, when competition does exist, it is a bad move to alienate your customers, and when competition doesn't exist (or is weak), bad attitudes can result in customers taking their complaints to a regulatory agency. And some times, in some places, these agencies kick a*** ... Regards, Geoff Harland. ----------------------------- E-Mail Disclaimer The Information in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Any opinions or advice contained in this e-mail are confidential and not for public display. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
