XWidgetSoft Forum

Some people have noticed that there is now an option for a "Pro" version of Xwidgets. A link exists on the "about" window that pops up from the menu about option. It may also pop up at other times, for example when downloading any "extras".

What is this Pre-Version about? This is a valid question that you may be asking yourself and that I will do a little to try and answer.

First of all I am not the developer so what I am stating here is merely the opinion of someone in-the-know.

Tony created Xwidgets on the PC and Android and he did this all by himself. Other widget engines were created by teams of developers. However in Xwidgets there was only one developer and he had to live and work in order to make money. This is in the real world of course where bills have to be paid. Tony had to abandon Xwidget development in order to make money to live.

Xwidgets almost died due to the absence of the developer and so we had no updates for close to three years. Jim King kept Xwidgets alive by sheer force of will and somehow together after three years they still have a real working product and over a million or so users.

However, Xwidget brings in zero cash to the developer and to Jim who has created over 4,000 widgets.

It is now time to take Xwidget in the direction that will make it live again. The only way to do that is to allow people the chance to give some money to the developers and those that keep the infrastructure alive.

In the past we all used to do this - it was called paying for your software.

Before anyone suggests donations - donations don't typically work when you are trying to generate some cash. You might receive one donation every 300,000 downloads as it appears that people these days are too stingey and feel too entitled to believe it is worth donating anything. This is a sad state of affairs but it is true.

So, Tony and Jim are left with one business model, to create a Pro-Enhanced product that provides more functionality that encourages users to purchase the extra improved versions. I encourage this because Tony has given us all a working desktop and tablet widget platform that actually operates! It also allows javascript developers to create apps on the Windows desktop. That ability should not be underestimated.

However, both products are flawed and need developer time. I want both engines to improve and the only way they will improve is if Tony and Jim can dedicate their time, they can't do this without some financial support.

The community needs to support them with this approach or Xwidgets will die... There is no argument. Xwidget dies without this support. Help them! I donated £20 at the beginning of the project as I felt that ws a suitable amount for the pro IDE. It is actually quite a decent price for what is being offered by Tony and Jim - and that is their support and time and energy.

Let us see how the Pro version proceeds and give Tony/Jim your support. Let us try to influence them to create the functionality we require. The old version of Xwidget will still continue to be free. New functionality will come in the Pro version. New commercial extras will arrive and we may need to pay for them. Don't complain! Support the team and help them take Xwidgets to the next level.

Thank you very much Dean, build Pro version because we have been unable to pay for the huge network bandwidth and the rent cost of server , so we are faced with the option to either turn off xwidget or develop pro version. Thank you for all those who helped us

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XWidget Software Developer
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Thank you Dean for your topic and support..

People need to understand that there are services and servers that are necessary to run the forum, galleries, Weather and the app that are not for free. So we need support to go on..

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...and remember: don't take life too seriously...
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