I will explain using a single device business licence as an example.
Imagine that you bought a single device business licence for the RAM Disk today, on 5 January 2021, priced at $49. Every licence includes one year of version updates. Which means that this purchase gives you a licence key that will work "forever" with today's version of the RAM Disk and with any its version released between today and this day next year, 5 January 2022.
If you wish, you can change to a 3-year or an unlimited update period at the checkout. With the 3-year option you extend the update period until 5 January 2024. And with the unlimited option you will be able to update to any future version of the RAM Disk that is released for the rest of its existence, and will not need to read this post any further.
If you purchased the licence with the default 1-year update option, then after one year you can
choose:
- either to keep using the last covered version and not update any further. This means you won't need to pay or purchase anything extra, but you will be limited to using the last version compatible with your key, and will need to make sure you keep a backup copy of the installer file for that RAM Disk version, in case you need to reinstall it later, e.g. after a system restore or computer upgrade.
- or to renew your licence and get another year of updates. Renewals are offered at half-price of a new licence price (i.e. $24.50 for 1-device business licence for another year) and can be purchased any time. For example, the 1-year update period for the licence purchased today will end on 5 January 2022. You can decide to update on that day, or skip a few versions and purchase the renewal and update months or even years later. You will still be entitled to the discount. So if you decide you would like to update to a new version on 30 October 2022, you can purchase the discounted renewal then and get a year of updates from 30 October 2022 until 30 October 2023.
This arrangement may appear a bit complicated at the first glance, but it is done this way to give our users the best choice and freedom in deciding what they want to purchase and when.