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Time to Say Goodbye

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    Time to Say Goodbye

    I believe I joined this forum in 2000 but have used Alpha since about 1990. It has been an EXCELLENT piece of software. V8 is still running my company and has been ROCK SOLID.

    Unfortunately it is time to say "Goodby" My age, Windows 10, and pricing of the current product made me decide to go into a different direction. The different websites that I had on my Alpha server have been converted over to Wordpress. That way should I decide to leave this earth, my clients need only find someone that knows WP. The sad part in the conversion was trying to duplicate what had been done in Alpha. No WP plugin comes anywhere close to the power of Alpha. But I managed to make things work out.

    The main reason for this post is to say "THANKS" to the Tom's, Steve's, Stan's and many more that have supported me over the years on this forum. Without this forum I would have been lost at times.

    Everyone take care and Good Luck with Alpha...

    Phil

    #2
    Re: Time to Say Goodbye

    I fully understand Phil. Like you I am also moving on but not to WP as it cannot even come close to doing what I would need it to do.

    Plus, I opened up V10.5 today for the first time in a year to check and verify that something that worked in V10.5 was broken by Alpha in V11 and I confirmed that.
    When I started V10.5 I got this message.


    Are they kidding? $299 a year to keep V10.5 if my PC crashes? I have the install files stored in the cloud so I do not need them and I guess I will store my activation key in the cloud as well. But knowing them they will restrict access to the activation server unless you fork over $299.00

    Will finally be moving on between March and May of next year. Will be spending more than I would with Alpha to get started but I will not be asked to bend over once on board with them.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Time to Say Goodbye

      The sad part about V11 was that it was NOT Win 10 compatible. Like you, why spend more money....

      Wordpress has is good and bad points and database area is a bad point. What software do you plan on using to replace Alpha?

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Time to Say Goodbye

        Originally posted by Phil Rolf View Post
        The sad part about V11 was that it was NOT Win 10 compatible. Like you, why spend more money....

        Wordpress has is good and bad points and database area is a bad point. What software do you plan on using to replace Alpha?
        V10.5 runtime is not Win 10 compatible, V10.5 developer is. But I run V11 on Win 10 all day long as do most all my customers. Both the v11 developer and runtime are compatible with Win10 in my experience.
        But I am not leaving Alpha for compatibility issues with Windows. I am leaving for other reasons.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Time to Say Goodbye

          Preston, have you found something as powerful at less cost?

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Time to Say Goodbye

            Originally posted by lvasic View Post
            Preston, have you found something as powerful at less cost?
            More powerful in my opinion. As far as cost, depends.
            If you are just building Desktop then Alpha's Develop only plan would be cheaper but I am not sure if that plan also comes with the runtime for you to deploy to other windows desktops.

            If you want to develop for more than just Windows devices and deploy desktop, web, mobile and web services then I can get everything including a robust set of training materials and a 4 day training conference for a little less than the Alpha Anywhere Build and Deploy plan.

            I have been planning this move for around 4 years but available cash has dampened that. I finally purchased a new tractor with backhoe and stuff. Then my next project is a new electrical service to the house and a new roof. After that I should be able to make the purchase of the development platform I want.

            What started me down the road was when Alpha went to the subscription plans and would not fix bugs in releases prior to your subscription plan expiring. I can understand not getting new features for no cost but "we know there is a bug but you will have to keep paying a subscription and hope we fix it someday" mentality they seem to have is beyond me.

            Then the now "$299.00 a year protection plan" for what may be 2 minutes of work from them if you ever needed a reset activation key is just another straw in the back that broke and is getting me to leave Alpha. I figure next year they will add V11 into the list you would need to pay $299.00 a year for protection.

            Just the other day I contacted another software vendor that I purchased something from 7 years ago and told them I lost the install files and all my license info but I still had the payment receipt. They verified I purchased it and got me all fixed up at no additional cost even though the version I purchased was now a legacy version. But it still suited my needs so They took care of me without any problems.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Time to Say Goodbye

              What software are you moving to?

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Time to Say Goodbye

                Instead of Wpress, I suggest Joomla. I have a number of sites on Joomla and chose it over WP. Joom was built to do websites and more. WP was built to do Blogs and has branched out.
                Dave Mason
                [email protected]
                Skype is dave.mason46

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Time to Say Goodbye

                  Wordpress has is good and bad points and database area is a bad point
                  wordpress and Joomla both use MySQL as a standard and I have friends that use mssql with joomla, so not sure why the database is a bad point.
                  There are tools available in WP and JOOM that can extend the two many times over. In fact, I know some that use Joomla as a starting point for their web apps since joomla already has the login part done and with tools/plugins like akeeba, they can get great security, backup and portability with very little work. Another is membership ro to help with subscriptions.
                  However, some stuff is not so easy. With the right tools, a whole application can be built and melded with Joomla. I can't speak so much foe wordpress, since I don't like or use it.
                  Joomla is totally free and creates a great site using cms all by itself.
                  Dave Mason
                  [email protected]
                  Skype is dave.mason46

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Time to Say Goodbye

                    I guess I should join this group. I started with Alpha 5 version 4 for DOS, guess that dates me. I now just need a desktop application that works on Windows 10. Not long ago I got a message after an update for Win 10 when I started Alpha that it is not licensed for this operating system. Can't take the chance I won't have access to my data so I re-wrote everything in Access. All works well, just not as smooth as Alpha. Come on Guys!! how about just a simple desktop application for all us old guys!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Time to Say Goodbye

                      Steve,

                      I started with alpha 4 version 2. Anyways, I'm not sure about windows 10, but here's how I handle the not licensed message. Open windows explorer, navigate to the folder containing the alpha5.exe file. Right click on that file, click on properties, click on compatibility, check the box Run this program in compatibility mode for: and select whichever operating system that works. I would start with windows 7 and run the application testing a number of forms and reports. If everything runs fine, your done. That's it.
                      Alpha 5 Version 11
                      AA Build 2999, Build 4269, Current Build
                      DBF's and MySql
                      Desktop, Web on the Desktop and WEB

                      Ron Anusiewicz

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