compgen1534 Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Paint.NET is a popular image and photo editing software for Windows since over a decade. It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, but is now an independent software. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint, paint.net has grown into a powerful yet simple image editor. It features an intuitive UI with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. After a long run as traditional desktop app, with the latest version 4.0.18, paint.net has now arrived on Windows Store. The Windows Store version brings automatic background updating and improved reliability, along with the usual Windows Store advantages. At the moment, there’s no difference between the desktop app and the new bridged app – both in form and function. The Store app supports plugins as well. The app, which has been free all through the years (and accepted donations), is no longer distributed free-of-charge. While the standard price is $8.99, it is currently on sale for $5.99 until the end of October. There’s a 30-day free trial as well. If you don’t want to pay, although the app is definitely worth the money, the classic release will still be available for free and kept up-to-date on the same schedule as the Store release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalju Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 1 hour ago, compgen1534 said: ... If you don’t want to pay, although the app is definitely worth the money, the classic release will still be available for free and kept up-to-date on the same schedule as the Store release. I'm not sure I want to pay for such a widget.... This is a sponsored program and it's not at all so good that you should buy it. Better to say - pay for a Windows gadget if the main program is for free. And, in general, most people would like to pay less if possible, if paying is not an end in itself. One proverb says: "Everything is not for sale, but everything is always buyable". And then you need to pay if something is not for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BimBamSmash Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Goodness. At first that screenshot above led me to believe this thing is going for 600 bucks! Well, devs gotta eat too, so no arguments there. Still, when I see that stuff that were previously available for free are now landing on the Store with a price tag attached... well, let's just say I don't think this is going to help boost MS App Store's reputation. Not for me at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
948bennett Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 6 hours ago, BimBamSmash said: Goodness. At first that screenshot above led me to believe this thing is going for 600 bucks! Thats what i thought lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamu726 Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 On 10/1/2017 at 4:42 AM, compgen1534 said: it is currently on sale for $5.99 it's $4.99 Quote Wait, it’s not free? Correct! The Store release of Paint.NET is not distributed free-of-charge. This allows many things to converge and solves a lot of problems, while still providing value for new and existing users (err, customers?). The “Classic” release will still be available and kept up-to-date on the same schedule as the Store release. … Well, I’m not gonna pay for it. That’s fine. Just use the “Classic” version like you always have. It’s worth checking out what the Store release has to offer though. Maybe you’ll change your mind, but if not … ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And you can still send a donation if that’s your preferred way of providing financial support. This is actually more effective because Microsoft does take a 30% cut of every transaction that goes through their Store. There are some important advantages that the Store release comes with: - Automatic background updating - Easy Installation - Reliability So … why charge for it now? [...] I’ve wanted to put Paint.NET into the Windows Store for awhile, but I couldn’t determine a way to monetize it that fit in with the existing distribution philosophy. Microsoft won’t allow you to accept payments or solicit donations except through their billing system, which meant that the Help menu’s Donate link had to go. And, since updates are handled automatically in the background, the polite “Please donate!” link in the updater was effectively gone as well. So if I were to give away Paint.NET for free on the Windows Store, anyone who installed it from there would probably never even see the “tip jar” and be encouraged to contribute. So, I finally decided that I would just charge for the Store release. The Classic release will still be available and will continue to have a visible “tip jar” to encourage folks to provide financial support. And the Store release has some genuine advantages that you can pay for, if you choose. Edit: I’d like to clarify something. There is a BetaNews article stating, “The charge for the Store app has been introduced because not enough people have been sending in donations.” This isn’t what I was trying to articulate above. The charge is because there would otherwise be no way to monetize the app at all because of Microsoft’s requirements for apps in the Store. It has nothing to do with the count or size of donations that are coming in, and I don’t mean to dismiss or minimize the contributions from folks over the years via donations. Sorry for the confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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