I am due for renewal next week. It's a stupid amount to be considering paying out when my current level of software (running solidworks 2022 currently) I downloaded the latest 2023 with service pack 5, plan to update to that, and Camworks is currently 2021, and will update to the latest version of 2022 before it expires.
I don't work with anyone elses models or drawings, so I don't need it to open and work on other peoples stuff. Software does what i need it to do. Worse thing I see happening is getting a new machine one day and needing a new post. I am sure I can figure that out when it happens. With the economy up here in Canada going to crap, I have a hard time paying out the almost $7k canadian they want for one year, or almost $17k canadian for the deal on 3 years.
Hawkridge hasn't been super helpful in telling me what will actually happen when it runs out beyond I will need to pay for 2 years maintenance and they are forcing the cloud stuff on people who lapse and want to renew.
So people who have recently let it lapse. what happens when the software phones home? does it just keep working? We own the licenses, paid handsomely when we bought them for solidworks and camworks 10 years ago.
Should I make sure I have all my zipped download files of the software saved away for back up?