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9 comments
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Sorry about the 6.1 update needing to be done from the website even though you had 6.0. This was due to some scenarios that exist due to people still using the final early access build. Future updates will be automatic again, and not need you to visit the website.
The reason we needed to get you to visit the website is so that you would be aware of Reflector Pro, and would have had a chance to read its license agreement and what was different in V6 before downloading it. We didn't want large numbers of people to be confused by the changes when they first fire up V6. Our webpage seemed like a better platform for the time being rather than implementing some system within the auto-update process.
To be honest, I would have preferred to remove the email form for a few weeks while everyone has the chance to upgrade, but the change would have risked breaking the download system altogether, and wasn't worth it.
Apologies, I can understand this hasn't been the best experience and hope you will find .NET Reflector back to its amicable best from now on, -
I noticed this today as well, and then noticed that Reflector Pro was for sale when I went to the web site. This is very concerning, as ever since Lutz passed off Reflector to RedGate, I have been worried that it would become a commercial product. I like RedGate tools, but I would find it VERY upsetting if Reflector became a for-pay product with a free trial only like th rest of RedGate's tools.
I know you have said that it would always remain free, however given the trend (progressive commercialization and forced downloads via the web site for bogus reasons such as "people might become confused", which are really just a way to push Reflector Pro on us for $200), I am beginning to doubt that. I am very concerned that the free version will soon become a free trial, with the eventual requirement that users be forced to buy Reflector Pro. If that day ever comes, I think it will be the saddest day in .NET history, a true loss and permanent mark against RedGate as a trustworthy company in my book.
Reflector has always been that perfect, free little tool from our beloved genius Lutz Roeder that every .NET developer needs and depends on...I fear its commercialization... -
jrista wrote:I know you have said that it would always remain free, however given the trend (progressive commercialization and forced downloads via the web site for bogus reasons such as "people might become confused", which are really just a way to push Reflector Pro on us for $200)
I can certainly understand your frustration but, to be absolutely clear, there's nothing bogus about this at all. Alex is right: our lawyers advised us that we would need to give everyone the opportunity to view the licenses for .NET Reflector and .NET Reflector Pro when upgrading from v5 to v6. Doing this makes it clear to anyone downloading the tool that it now includes a piece of commercial software with a 14-day trial period, and not just a free tool. Quite a few organisations would potentially have problems with this if we didn't do it, and unfortunately it's not enough to simply include the license agreements in the zip file (which we also do).
We could have done this by popping up a dialog box as soon as you start .NET Reflector, but that didn't seem particularly friendly. Doing things the way we have - disabling automatic updates and redirecting to the website on the server side - means that we only have to show people who are upgrading from v5.x to v6.x the license agreement once. Automatic updates will work again from v6.1 onwards (you won't need to go to the web page so you can view the license agreements again). The reason you still get the web redirect from v6.0 to v6.1 is that we had to be sure anyone upgrading from a v6.0 early access build would be given the opportunity to view the license agreements.
I hope that clears things up a little.
Thanks,
Bart -
I agree, the forced download is terrible. Its almost midnight and I had to update my reflector to keep working, if I did not update I could not use reflector.
Reflector is becoming a nag app, two developers in my office have already removed it and said forget it, hows that going to work out for you? -
Here's a thought... Why not simply *NOT* include a trial version of pro, and *NOT* change the terms of the license?
Instead, you choose to abuse the user base, forcing them to download your trialware and forcing new licensing terms on them.
This is not friendly behavior, and is going to be seen by many of us as a prelude to commercialization. We are not your forced guinea pigs. -
I have to jump on the bandwagon here. I fired up reflector to do some simple analysis of the .NET Mail.SendAsync method because I am getting some "object reference not set to an instance of an object" message with no visible indication as to what is happening.
Now I am forced to download the next version. This by itself is not a problem, but I am also downloading a 14-day free trial of .NET Reflector Pro.
I am 100% sure I won't have time within the next 14 days to evaluate this product. When the time comes that I want to take a look, am I going to get another free trial? I have my doubts. So how the hell am I going to be able to evaluate it in order to decide if the $199 is worth it?
Believe me, after reading your marketing page, I am very interested in buying .NET Reflector Pro. I already have a license for the SQL Compare bundle, and think your products are great. But if I don't get the chance to evaluate it, I will DEFINITELY NOT buy it. -
Hi,
The trial only begins when you start using Reflector Pro for the first time - i.e. have a solution open, go to the Reflector menu in VS and click on the 'Choose assemblies to debug' option to start the whole process.
You will then have 2 weeks to use the tool as much as you want from that point so it will be a time that's convenient for you.
Regards,
Stephen -
So, this whole RedGate takover of Reflector is turning into an utter disaster. Not only have we lost the ability to freely and quickly update the tool on the fly when it needs to be...but now it seems impossible to download. I have been trying for about 30 minutes to download Reflector, in three different browsers (Opera, my preference; FireFox; IE), and the download page no longer seems to function. I put in my information, which I really DO NOT want to do...I don't need any more junk email from a company that is trying so hard to charge me $200 for a tool that should be FREE (as they promised!!)
After filling in my info, regardless of whether I leave the checkbox to get all the RedGate junk mail checked or not, the page just jumps to the top. I never get a download...no download link is displayed...nothing.
This is rediculous, and it is exactly what I feared. I really used to like RedGate, as your SQL Compare tools have saved my butt in the past many times. However your handling of this Reflector stuff is really ruining your reputation. Not only are you forcing us devs to waste time coming to your web site every time we need to get the latest version, but now we can't even download at all!!
Plain and simply unacceptable. I hope another genious comes along and creates a replacement, because I'm really getting tired of dealing with this crap. -
I'm sorry you're having problems downloading .NET Reflector. I'm not sure why you should be because, as far as I can tell, the site is up and working fine.
I've tried from both Firefox 3.5.9 and IE8 and everything seems OK, regardless of whether I check the checkbox or not. Once you click "Download" do you not find yourself on a page which says "Your download of .NET Reflector will start shortly. If it does not start, please click here."? This page also includes brief how to instructions for using .NET Reflector Pro. After you've filled out the text fields, and hit "Download" you should find that these controls disappear from the page (it's actually replaced by a completely different page).
As an aside, if you update from within .NET Reflector itself you should find yourself directed to a version of the page that does not include the registration/newsletter sign-up step: you can just click "Download", and the file should come straight now.
The only thing I can think is that your browser might be blocking download of the file. For example, in IE you might see a message like, "To help protect your security, Internet Explorer blocked this site from downloading files to your computer. Click here for further options...," just below the toolbar and tabs.
It might also be worth, in Firefox, going to Tools > Downloads to make sure that the browser hasn't silently downloaded the file in the background. It's possible to stop the Downloads window popping up when you download files so, if that's the case, you may find you have several copies of the zip file on your machine.
If none of this works, please get back to me.
Thanks,
Bart
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That sort of defeats the whole notion of "auto update." The original behavior of actually being able to auto-update was much preferred to the new lack thereof.
The fact I can't just come in and download - that I need to fill out a form every time - just adds insult to injury. Reflector is going from a nice, very usable, free tool to something much less... amicable... new features or not.