Free SQL Prompt 2.0 valuable, but flawed; V3.0 being built from scratc
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I agree with most everyone else, free is a great price for something we have been waiting for. Even if it isn't perfect yet.
Thanks for the admission on the licensing issue. I think we had poor Bart pulling his hair out through our skeptisism.
Personally I think this act should highten Red Gates credibility.
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I use it for some tasks, but disable it for others. Just because it has some bugs/problems and is not suited for everyone is no reason for the few to get out the hatchets. As for the user suggesting they pay him for his time...good grief.
I appreciate the information in your post and have no issues with it, or your company as a result. We use SQL Compare and it has worked well - my only request is that you rethink your licensing methodology. More and more developers are using VMs, tieing the license key to specific hardware identifiers sure makes that more difficult.
For those that were griping: It's FREE - use it if you like or not. [Some people would gripe if they had a job as a taster in a pie factory!]
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I did install the free product, but was somewhat dissatisfied with its performance, and had to uninstall it quickly! Not a smart thing to distribute a product that does not perform to users expectations - even if it was a free product - it can only tarnish the Company's reputation.
I think the rebuild/redesign for the new version is the right decision, and I will download the trial version to see that it meets my expectations.
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Ok, I apologize for my brief, harsh words. They were a product of 6 hours spent trying to get the product to work. I tried 4 separate PC's, using Query analyzer & enterprise managers for 2000/2005. Dead. An opportunity cost of over $1k in trying to get this 'free' product to function.
At least with a paid product you have a moral right to require it to work, but since its free (up-front) we hear "so what its free" from the masses. Shame, as the concept is great.
One hopes that with V3 there is some form of try-before-you-buy, else return (-1).
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For many people, a free but flawed product is still better than a perfect but expensive tool...
Is the licence for v3 a per head licence? That can be quite expensive if you have 10 developers in your department. It is worth it? To many smaller companies - NO. To be honest, after being initially extremely excited with SQL Prompt, I have since stopped using it - and I will not be forking out $99 when I can buy 5 reference books for the same price, and get more benefit from the books.
But hey, but that's just my opinion 🙂
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I installed it a few days ago and I think it is a great free product (and I only had to install it once). I agree with everyone that is has some downfalls, but until it starts messing me up I'm going to use it. Why doesn't Microsoft just include it in there? They can include intellisense for the whole .net framework, but not sql server? I'm sure it is more about it's partners creating add-ons, but it would've been nice if it worked as fast as the VS IDE.
Oh well, like I said before, great free product and thanks for making it available for us to try.
P.S. alanrobinson you're opportunity costs are astronomical, I would've installed in on 4 pc's for $500 😉
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REAL COST, scaled vs. $295 SQL Dependency Tracker:
Assume 12 years of Product Usability (for the sake of discussion).
$195 Product $165~ 3-year "Upgrades and Support" (3 * $120) Renewal for next 9 years $720 Total Cost
Original, still usable though no longer supported Prompt SQL cost: $25 - Maintenance and upgrades - $zero.
That's for a SINGLE seat!
Roll on Microsoft bringing Intellisense to VS themselves - and not charging a bundle for it.
BTW: Apex SQL Edit, which includes way more than Intellisense but isn't VS integrated is even more expensive than RG - try $507 for a 1-unit, 3-year maintenace deal. Due to it's long list of features, it's not valid to compare it vs. SQL Prompt - just thought I'd mention it as it has Intellisense
REMEMBER: Red-Gate purchased a Product with an existing Customer base, cut the old product dead, is planning on charging $99 (for a limited time, then $195) plus maintenance for what is, in effect, a product whose functionality the existing customers had already purchased, is then planning on charging those customers for "Upgrades and support" on a cyclical basis when they'd already purchased it from Atadore one-time... I can write off $25 and mourn the demise of a usable, productivity increasing product. Jumping on the RG wagon and "enjoying" ongoing expenditures (FROM MY OWN POCKET, NOT MY EMPLOYER AS THEY DON'T HAVE THE CASH!) is unlikely.
Prompt SQL v1.4 will live on until the MS environments no longer allow it to function. SQL Prompt v2.x is worse than 1.4 - "free" doesn't come into it.
I suppose in a capitalist world it's "just business" to buy a Product, in effect kill it, then charge a boatload more for a replacement. My beef: the boatload more is too much more. Did anyone stop to think of the ethics of what just happened? Are ethics disposable when it comes to making money? Not in my book, but that's just my two-penn'th.
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Thanks for all of the comments above, it is great to use this opportunity to see how people view our decisions on SQL Prompt.
I'd like to correct some misconceptions in the post from "SA from CA" (above). SQL Prompt 2.0 is based on the same code base as PromptSQL 1.4 - the difference between the two is that we put two excellent engineers working full time on it for over a month and they resolved about 30 significant bugs. Rather than charging $25 for this we decided to give it away - this meant that anybody who wants it can have it for nothing. If v2 is worse in any way than 1.4 it would be great to have the feedback but it is a surprising view point. I can understand how it is a bit galling to spend money on something only for it to be subsequently given away though.
All of our tools are sold on perpetual licenses. The only reason to pay for upgrades is if you want to gain from the benefit of future improvements, if you are happy with it as it stands then you can continue using the old version and keep your (or your company's) money in your pocket. Like many software businesses one of our challenges is to provide improvements that justify an upgrade in the minds of our customers.
I've been in touch with the person behind Atadore and asked him about whether he was going to provide free upgrades forever and his response was "absolutely not"! He went on to make the points " saw your response on SQL Server Central - I think it is fair - there is a big difference between a company such as Red-Gate selling a product, and something that someone is selling for US$25.00 a license that they developed in their spare time - as you know there was an open bug list forum for PromptSQL with a list of outstanding issues, most of which are being voiced, which I was addressing over time - the product had only been out for six months or so. Best of luck with version 3.0 - hope the vocal negative comments are not distorting the silent majority that appreciate the product!"
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"Free Upgrades from Atadore" point taken - support was free and bug fixes since purchase had also been free. If the product moved from 1.x to 2.x, I would expect there to be some upgrade charge - perhaps another $25? Maybe the 12-year cost would have been $100 to $200 - who knows...
As to v2 being worse. If it doesn't execute, it is worse. 'nuf said. May well be similar to some of the posts I've seen on the RG forum. Anyway - I don't have time to play with v2.x any more (install v2, uninstall, install 1.4 each time around), so will hope that v3 installs and runs.
I suppose coming from a 15%/annum maintenance model for many years makes one balk at anything above that. Sorry for being so prehistoric. As with any purchase, it's always good to know the total costs involved - the sticker price isn't all you'll pay to run a car, so it is with software, although bug fixes should be no-cost items in my opinion.
All the best with v3.
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Functionality aside, there was a significant customer miscommunication issue which happened with the release of v2.0. Confusing your customers is bad business.
Hopefully v3 is so great that we can overlook that. The price point is probably about right, as long as it is easy to install, configure, and use.
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Hmm...
The September date has come and gone...
Wonder whats happening with this now?
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Anthony,
We've hit a number of technical issues that have resulted in the product ship date significantly slipping - we're hoping to get a release candidate out in the next month and have the whole thing wrapped up in two. Obviously this is really disappointing for the people waiting for the new version, we're doing our best but sometimes when you do difficult and risky projects they don't go as fast as you hope. We're really sorry for any annoyance that this has caused.
Hopefully you and others will view the delay as worth it when you get to see the rewritten product.
Simon
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In response to Anthony, and in addition to Simon's comments, I'd also like to apologise for the delay in releasing SQL Prompt 3. A public beta is now available and can be downloaded via the link at:
http://www.red-gate.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=3811
Kind regards,
Bart
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