I appreciate more information is coming shortly, @dspreadbury, but I hope for some clarification on this policy. The reasons why I ask this question are below, but the question is âWill Steinberg move away from only major (paid) version updates triggering a transition to the new licensing system once the new system has matured, especially if the product has recently had a major version update or is rarely/never updated?â. I expect all that you can say now is âwait for the announcementâ, but wanted to raise my concern nevertheless.
It is clear from what you say that products stay on eLicenser unless and until Steinberg issues an update moving them to the new licensing system. It makes sense not to have an eLicenser compatibility layer in the new system as this would increase fragility, mean a sensitive subsystem has a broader attack surface and fail to eliminate technical debt.
Understandably, the rollout of the new system will start with products that are about to undergo a major version transition - presumably Dorico 4, as well as paid updates to Cubase and Nuendo that will likely arrive in the next couple of months. Perhaps Dorico 4 will be the first product on the new system, limiting the initial rollout to a smaller number of customers than a Cubase update. Once the new system launches, presumably all new Steinberg releases will use the new licensing system.
However, other Steinberg products on less regular release cycles have recently undergone a major version transition - notably WaveLab 11 and Absolute 5. Spectralayers undergoes fairly frequent major version updates, though Spectralayers 8 is also a fairly recent release. I asked the question about transition other than at a major version update particularly with these products in mind.
I own numerous Steinberg licenses on my system, including WaveLab Pro 11, Absolute 5 and Spectralayers Pro 8. I understand I will likely have licences on both the old and new systems during the transitional period. However, I hope that I can move these products to the new licensing system within six months of its launch, rather than having to wait perhaps eighteen to twenty-four months for a new WaveLab major release.
In particular, I was hoping to use the very recently released WaveLab Pro 11 on my main system and my Surface Pro without the current requirement to move a USB eLicenser between the two systems once the new licensing system arrives.
Some products rarely, if ever, undergo a paid major version change, especially extensions. Presumably, licences for extension products will transition to the new licensing system at the same time as the parent application, so, for example, Iconica and TGuitar licences will move systems when HALion / HALion Sonic move to the new system.
