Free UpdatePROTECT in SetupBuilder 5.2 Developer!

[NewsArchive]

SetupBuilder 5 Developer Edition includes a variety of features designed
to help you manage access to your software, including serial number lists
and date-based or version-based expiration.

UpdatePROTECT is an integral part of the SetupBuilder 5.2 Developer Edition
flagship now. You can quickly generate "Subscription Keys" to protect
your updates. This technology is well suited for software subscription
services in which the end-users subscribe, for instance on a monthly,
quarterly, semi-annually, etc. basis.

At the end of the subscription period, end-users will have the option of
extending the subscription or simply continuing their current version. But
end-users will no longer be able to utilize product updates released after
the subscription expiration date/version. With UpdatePROTECT, the
subscription renewal is easy and simple. You only have to send a new
"Subscription Key" to your end-user.

If you distribute software to others - within a department, company, or to
the public - ensuring that your users can install the software smoothly
should be a major concern. SetupBuilder 5 can help ease your mind.

SoftVelocity, Inc. uses SetupBuilder to create service packs (patches) for
Clarion 6.2. The size of the entire set of Clarion 6.2 "Gold" update files
is more than 50 MB. The SetupBuilder byte-level patching mechanism reduces
this to 3.6 MB (93% reduction) to keep Internet bandwidth to a minimum!

For more information please visit http://www.lindersoft.com/setupscript.htm

---
Friedrich Linder
CEO, Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
1.954.252.3910

"point. click. ship" - that's SetupBuilder 5

[NewsArchive]

Now THIS is something Inno doesn't offer! Cool!

Gustavo

[NewsArchive]

Friedrich,

> UpdatePROTECT is an integral part of the SetupBuilder 5.2 Developer
> Edition
> flagship now. You can quickly generate "Subscription Keys" to protect
> your updates. This technology is well suited for software subscription

Could SetupBuilder use information stored in Armadillo Keys instead of it's
own keys?

Carlos Gutierrez

[NewsArchive]

Second to that!

Edvard Korsbæk

[NewsArchive]

Carlos,

At the moment this is not possible.

Charles Edmonds and I are working on an interface to support his upcoming
SoftDefense and RegKISS technology from within the SetupBuilder IDE. I am
not an Armadillo expert, so perhaps Charles has some ideas on this one.

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
CEO, Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
1.954.252.3910

"point. click. ship" - that's SetupBuilder 5

[NewsArchive]

I see how to implement the generation of subscription keys but what else
needs to be done Friedrich in order for this to work? Is the subscription
key stored in the registry? Do we as developers need to write the bit that
updates the registry with a new key when issued?

Colin Wynn

[NewsArchive]

Colin,

> I see how to implement the generation of subscription keys but what else
> needs to be done Friedrich in order for this to work? Is the subscription
> key stored in the registry? Do we as developers need to write the bit that
> updates the registry with a new key when issued?

It depends on your installation design. Here is what we do in our
SetupBuilder 5 installations:

We write the "Subscription Key" to the registry (the installer handles
this). A full install always checks if the "Subscription Key" is already
available. If this is the case, it fills the appropriate installer dialog
so the user does not have to "copy and paste" it in again. But the user
has the option to enter a new key.

In our SetupBuilder 5 (partial) web updates, we always read the
"Subscription Key" from the registry. If it does not exists, no web update
can be performed. Of course, you can prompt for a "Subscription Key" in
your updates if no key is available. You can do whatever you want!

At the end of the SetupBuilder 5 subscription period (or if the user
extended his subscription), the user can enter a new "Subscription Key"
from within the SetupBuilder IDE. In this case, the application "updates"
the registry.

Does this help?

--
Friedrich Linder
CEO, Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
1.954.252.3910

"point. click. ship" - that's SetupBuilder 5

[NewsArchive]

Thank you Friedrich, now can you put that in your online help please? :)

Colin Wynn

[NewsArchive]

Hi Friedrich,

This makes SB one of the most powerfull installer in the world, well SB5 is
already the most powerfull.

One question:
Will it be possible to update the "Subscription Key" on the user side
without him having to enter anything?
Something like an automatic "Subscription Key" entry via the SB
installation.

Regards

Johan de Klerk

[NewsArchive]

> This makes SB one of the most powerfull installer in the world, well SB5 is
> already the most powerfull.

.... indeed it is!

> One question:
> Will it be possible to update the "Subscription Key" on the user side
> without him having to enter anything?
> Something like an automatic "Subscription Key" entry via the SB
> installation.

Johan,

One of the features we have working on for our RegKISS product will allow
you to do this.

You will be able to use our KeyCast feature to send updated subscription
keys (along with a new Armadillo keys as needed) directly to the program so
that the user does not have to type it in manually.

This feature also makes using a two-key registration code system a breeze.

;-)

Charles


--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charles Edmonds

www.ezround.com - "Round Corner HTML tables with matching Banners, Buttons
and Forms!"
www.lansrad.com - "Intelligent Solutions for Universal Problems"
www.fotokiss.com - "World's Best Auction Photo Editor"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[NewsArchive]

Johan,

> This makes SB one of the most powerfull installer in the world, well SB5
> is already the most powerfull.

Thank you :)

> One question:
> Will it be possible to update the "Subscription Key" on the user side
> without him having to enter anything?
> Something like an automatic "Subscription Key" entry via the SB
> installation.

The "Subscription Key" is a strong-protected license string. Some ideas
that come to mind:

1. Save the "Subscription Key" to an INI or text file and store it in the
main application folder. The installer can read the key from this file.
To "update" the "Subscription Key", just send your customers a new INI
or text file.

-or-

2. Write the "Subscription Key" to the registry. The installer can read the
key from the registry. To "update" the "Subscription Key", send your
customers a simple newkey.exe (compiled with SetupBuilder 5) which writes
a new key to the registry on the target machine.

And of course, what Charles said. We are working on an interface to support
his upcoming SoftDefense and RegKISS technology from within the SetupBuilder
IDE.

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
CEO, Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
1.954.252.3910

"point. click. ship" - that's SetupBuilder 5

[NewsArchive]

>
> Thank you Friedrich, now can you put that in your online help please? :)
>

Yes :)

Friedrich

[NewsArchive]

Hi Charles,

How is RegKISS coming along. Looking forward to the release date.

Don Harvey

[NewsArchive]

Hi Don,

Thanks for the inquiry. Let me give you and everyone else an update.

We've been making steady progress with RegKISS and are already using parts
of it inhouse as the old saying goes - we eat our own dogfood<g>).

I believe we have most of the liability issues around Armadillo resolved
(which is good from a SoftDefense perspective), but RegKISS has also grown
and changed in the past few months.


We have a new universal transport engine (built with NetTalk of course)
that takes care of all file transports (uploads/downloads), emails
(send/receive) and both RSS/PRSS feeds. This LITL (LANSRAD Intelligent
Transport Layer) engine runs as a service process and does all the heavy
lifting of the product.

Of course this news should make it obvious that we have decided NOT to
support Win9x with RegKISS (as the platform where RegKISS runs). Our
belief is that your business systems need to run on a modern OS and modern
hardware.

BTW - this won't affect your protected software running on a 9X platform -
just the business office side of things.


We are also working towards distribution and publishing within RegKISS.

It will be able to master CD/DVD's (one pass writing - no temp files) and
it will also be able to print directly on the CD/DVD or a label (both text
and graphics).


Another area we have done a lot of work in has to do with standardization
of data. To this end RegKISS has become what the name implied - a
registration management/automation tool - not a sales tool.

After deciding (based on early feedback) that we could never satisfy the
database requirements of the various business systems that a company might
have, we made a strategic decision to simply manage the order and
registration data (such as we get from PayPal or SWREG). Every scrap of it
will be available to a Clarion developer in the transaction files (or via
XML export for non-Clarion developers).

We also have another company who is working on a business system that will
interface directly with RegKISS. It will be able to interact with the
system to provide a interface for brick & mortar sales (or phone/postal
mail sales). This software will be available at a nominal price for those
who don't have their own system (or don't want to roll their own).

Another cool thing there is that if RegKISS processes a web sales order and
sends the registration data via email, this other business system software
can send a followup email with a PDF invoice that has the registration code
in the invoice body (of course this could also be shipped with a CD).

We are also interfacing with some companies like SwiftCD where we can
process an order and have CD fulfillment in that method.


All of these changes to the way RegKISS operates shows that the product has
its sights set on the big picture.

As much as we have our heart and soul in the Clarion development community,
we are also looking for this tool to take its place in the non-Clarion
development community so we have had to expand our vision to make this
possible.


Of course our integration with SB5 is growing at the same time and we are
working to integrate SB5 services (such as UpdateProtect) into our own
registration management system. This is important to developers using both
products as it simplifies the overall process to one management tool.

Friedrich has done an outstanding job with SB5 and both of us share the
vision of what it could mean to have a world class installer tightly
integrated with a excellent registration management and delivery system.


Now as for a release date - we don't have one set quite yet.

Obviously this product has changed significantly since we first came up
with the concept( and many hurdles have already been overcome).

The big factor in time is that since we are dealing with such critical data
we are really having to take our time to iron out all the kinks before the
product can hit the street.

This sort of product is not really like a normal one (where a big problem
is fixed by a simple update). Since we are dealing with processing orders
(in the automated system) and in delivering the keys that unlock the
financial kingdoms of our customers - it simply has to be right the first
time.


Of course add that to the fact that we have to keep our other product
development moving forward (after all - we all have bills to pay<g>), it
makes for slow progress.


Still I believe that our core technologies are coming together nicely and
at this point in time it is not unreasonable for us to look at a first
quarter release for 2006.


Our plans are to have a tightly controlled set of alpha testing and most
likely have a closely held first beta round. Then we will offer a
sweetheart of a deal on the price for developers who buy into the
technology during the public beta phase.

This public beta phase will be designed to help isolate any bugs we might
have missed and to be sure that any features we overlooked are added in.

Then when we go to market with a gold product it will be a rock solid suite
of tools that is ready to take its place in the industry.

Our sincere thanks to all who have already contributed ideas and
suggestions (keep them coming!) and most of all thanks to good folks like
yourself who have kept an interest in this product suite as it comes of
age.

Take care,

Charles


--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charles Edmonds

www.ezround.com - "Round Corner HTML tables with matching Banners, Buttons
and Forms!"
www.lansrad.com - "Intelligent Solutions for Universal Problems"
www.fotokiss.com - "World's Best Auction Photo Editor"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------