Been using Macromedia products, a lot. Started out with Freehand (BM, Before Macromedia, version 3 to be precise). Kept going to 10, then decided to go whole hog and went to Studio MX.

One of the things I liked was MM’s “two-machine” license. I could have it on desktop and latop, without muss or fuss. Great.

But just recently I switched both machines. The laptop went to a MacBook, while the desktop went to an XPC Shuttle (love the small, quiet box) because I decided there were too many bugs in IE/Win to try and fix them all working blind on the Mac. (Also wanted a dry run for when I went dual-OS on the MacBook, with either Boot Camp or Parallels.)

So, I deactivated the the two mac copies, and activated the installation on the MacBook. Brilliant! Then I tried to activate the Windows copy. No Joy. Apparently Mamcromedia thinks no one at all should be allowed to run a dual-platform shop without paying a penalty. If you run Windows, you can’t run MacOS. If you run MacOS, then by all means you should be prevented from running Windows.

This is a pretty narrow-minded approach. I’m still the same designer, with both a desktop and a laptop that I do not intend to be using simultaneously. Or at least the was the original intention. But since they’re so narrow-mined about platform, I’m going to have to be using both at the same time, testing with the IE/Win browser, then editing with mac tools, then going back to test, and going back to edit. Instead of being consistent and doing all my editing and testing on the same system.

It’s stupid, yes. But Macromedia seems to have something against me working efficiently. They think that I should have to fork over extra cash just because the desktop and the laptop run different OS’s.

It’s time I re-evaluate my involvement with these tools. Do I really want to have my livelihood significantly affected by a company that’s so arbitrarily capricious? What happens if/when they change their minds and decide I should not be able to have two of their applications open on the same machine at the same time?

I was sorry to see them bought up by Adobe. Now I’m incllined to say I may just be better off without them, after all.

My mind’s not made up; I can be convinced. But I feel compelled to note before opening the comments that saying “Adobe is just as bad” is not an argument to use Macromedia, just an argument not to use Adobe. So if you want to convince me, you’ll have to give me a better reason than that.

Oh, and if, like the person on the phone at Macromedia, you want to try and quote the license at me, yes, I’ve read it. 2(A) says I can install it on a laptop and a desktop, lists some restrictions, but never mentions platform. Section 3(k) is where they bury the single-platform declaration, half a page of fine print away. Seems to me a clear attempt to mislead the customer.

I can tell you right now, the upgrade for Studio 8 just got put on indefinite hold. I may still remain a Macromedia user, but I’m no longer a loyal one, and I’ll jump ship just as soon as I find tools I can live with. There’s no percentage in staying close to a vendor with this attitude.