Community WHS Add-ins: Moving to pay models?
This is another hot topic, which will most likely garner some spirited discussion. Windows Home Server’s add-in support has been a blessing for many users, adding features which people found WHS to be lacking or simply enhancing existing features. However, most of the community add-ins have been free, but that tide seems to be changing and Microsoft itself seems to be embracing such a model, since WHS2 (aka Vail) is going to have it’s own add-in store. Personally, I rather enjoy paying for quality software I find useful and I look forward to more developers getting on board and releasing great software at reasonable prices. Jim Clark over at We Got Served recently wrote an article about this very thing.
Over the past few months, I have noticed a change in the way “free” WHS
add-ins are being promoted in the marketplace. Some are transitioning
from free (beta) versions to some form of commercial paid version. Some
are being released from the get-go as some form of commercial paid
version. Is this a good thing for the end user? Or a bad thing? Or
perhaps do you see a benefit (new or perceived) from your favorite
add-in requiring a payment for updated/new versions? That is what we
are here to discuss today.