This page documents DiscusWare's product lifecycles, particularly pertaining to Discus Professional. DiscusWare's established procedures are designed to deliver value to all customers through ongoing product development while preserving compatibility with previous releases and ensuring that a stable version is available and maintained.

DiscusWare numbers its software releases according to a major release number, a minor release number, and a patch number. For example, a distribution numbered as "4.00.8" has a major release number of 4, a minor release number of 00, and a patch number of 8. (Note: a release numbered "4.00.10" would be more recent than one numbered "4.00.8" because 10 is greater than 8.)

From time to time, DiscusWare may release software versions designated for beta testing. These are distinguished by a prefix of "b" in the patch number (e.g. 5.00.b1). An official release does not have such a prefix.

The following policies govern the price and availability of software upgrades. All of the following assume that a customer holds a valid Discus Professional license and is in good standing with regard to license compliance and outstanding payments due to DiscusWare for products and services.

Each Discus Professional license states the maximum major and minor release version that is available with that license. A license holder in good standing is authorized to use (and as available, to download) Discus Professional versions of that major and minor release or any previous release.

• New Patches: A free update is available to any newly created patch release within a version for which the licensee is authorized. This means, for example, that a licensee authorized for major release 4 may upgrade freely from version 4.00.4 to 4.00.8 (a patch release). Any bug fixes for a particular software version that do not require major redevelopment or reimplementation (i.e., "known issues" to be addressed in a future version) will be released as patches according to the schedule below.

• New Minor Releases: Minor releases will always include new features, or a reimplementation of previous features that requires major redevelopment, but will be substantially based on the same code base as other versions within a similarly numbered major release. A free upgrade to the minor release is provided to any Discus Professional licensee whose license is in good standing, and has purchased their Discus Professional license within one year of the announcement date of the minor release. Licensees may also obtain their free update to new minor releases by renewing support, as any support that is active on or after the announcement date of a new minor release will automatically convey the privilege to upgrade to that new minor release. Customers who are not eligible to upgrade to a new minor release free of charge may purchase a software-only upgrade or a support renewal (see below).

• New Major Releases: Major releases will always include a substantial number of new features, and often a rearchitecture or reimplementation of significant portions of the software product. Major releases can take months of development, and the beta testing period will often be quite long. The availability of the new major release to licensees follows the same procedure noted above for minor releases, with the major release being available free of charge to any licensee who purchased their license within the last year, or who holds a current support contract.

From time to time, DiscusWare may publish, on a promotional basis, offers or incentives to customers who purchase certain products and services. The following is an enumeration of these pledges, and an explanation of how these policies accommodate those pledges:

• Half price upgrades: From 1998 through approximately June of 2003, it was stated on the DiscusWare website that licensees may always upgrade to the latest version of Discus Professional for at least a 50% discount off the purchase price of a new license. We offer this via our "software only" upgrade option, and continue to honor this historical pledge for all purchasers.

• Discus 4.0 upgrade from July 1, 2001 onward: From July 1, 2001 to the present, it was stated on the DiscusWare website that Discus 4.0 would be available to customers who purchased their license at this time. All licenses meeting these criteria are automatically authorized for Discus 4.0.

• Discus 5.0 upgrade from January 1, 2004 onward: From January 1, 2004 to the present, it was stated on the DiscusWare website that Discus 5.0 would be available to customers who purchased their license at this time. On March 28, 2006, the DiscusWare license database was updated to increase the maximum version authorized for these licensees to 5.0. This pledge will be satisfied upon the first release of this new software version. Additionally, all such licensees are automatically able to download the new interim release, Discus Professional 4.10.

For any Discus Professional licensee who wishes to upgrade to a new major or minor release, but is not authorized to do so, may purchase either a software-only upgrade, or a support contract renewal.

• Software-only Upgrade: DiscusWare offers software-only upgrades for a price that is discounted 50% or more from the purchase price of a new license. These upgrades include the right to download specific software versions (which are stated at the time of purchase). Software-only upgrades do not include technical support, and do not include any future software upgrades, regardless of timing.

• Support Renewal: DiscusWare technical support renewals include both a renewal of technical support via e-mail and the right to download all versions of Discus Professional that are available or announced during your support period. Or in other words, your support renewal is three things: (1) a renewal of your technical support; (2) everything included in a "software only" upgrade purchase; and (3) continued software upgrades while your license is under support. You can renew support here.

The following are the stages of the development of DiscusWare products:

• Development: Software that is under development but has not been made available to the general public.

• Beta Release: Software that has been released to the public but is still under development. This software is recommended for test sites only, and is not recommended on production systems. The functionality and documentation of beta software may be limited.

• Official Release: Software that has been released to the public and is deemed to be stable. This software is the recommended version for production systems.

• Old Release: Software that was deemed as an official release in the past, but for which a newer major or minor official release has become available. Old releases are eligible for "legacy" support, but DiscusWare encourages an upgrade to the new official release as soon as possible.

• Deprecated Release: Software that has been replaced by at least one new major or minor release, where said new major or minor release has been available as an official release for at least one year. Deprecated releases are not supported in any way by DiscusWare (and may no longer be available for download).

The following table details the various download, upgrade, and support options that are available for each of the above mentioned types of release.

*: Free support by e-mail is available for one year following the date of purchase. In addition to the free e-mail support, contract support and single-incident support services are available for any items noted with this status. Items noted as "legacy" are available only with paid support contracts carrying a "legacy" endorsement.

**: "Security updates" are fixes for any problems that may allow an unauthorized individual to gain access to the server system on which the discussion board is running, or to an interface through which unauthorized changes to the server system can be made. (As of the present time, no such problems have ever been discovered in any version of Discus.)