Freiwald Software (RR&Co) no longer available to UK buyers

[Andymsa]

21 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

What's the relevance?

Quite simple, the attitudes of both of the developers is like chalk and cheese. Those who have dealt with a particular developer will know what I mean 

[Colin_McLeod]

11 minutes ago, Andymsa said:

Quite simple, the attitudes of both of the developers is like chalk and cheese. Those who have dealt with a particular developer will know what I mean 

 

Oh! So you are talking about the individual developers, but  your comment is making the point that whats more they are Dutch, not German which would be a racist comment.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, WIMorrison said:

 

You are correct, iTrain is available in Mac, Windows and Linux versions - people even run it on a Raspberry Pi

 

Whereas RR&Co is only available to run on Windows.

Windows can of course be run as a VM in iOS & Linux.

 

[WIMorrison]

Just now, melmerby said:

Windows can of course be run as a VM in iOS & Linux.

 

 

Touch of desperation in this defence methinks

 

BTW - even in a VM you need a licenced version of windows, which adds another £120 to the cost of an already expensive program, plus you have the dongle issues to deal with which can sometimes be a challenge in a VM

[melmerby]

1 minute ago, WIMorrison said:

 

Touch of desperation in this defence methinks

 

BTW - even in a VM you need a licenced version of windows, which adds another £120 to the cost of an already expensive program, plus you have the dongle issues to deal with which can sometimes be a challenge in a VM

Not really a defence (There isn't one!), just pointing out that these days you aren't stuck with one operating system.

[Andymsa]

52 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

Oh! So you are talking about the individual developers, but  your comment is making the point that whats more they are Dutch, not German which would be a racist comment.

Oh dear that old chestnut, racist comments. I made no such point at all that any particular developer was from any particular country, but now you raise a good point now in the attitude of the German developer towards uk buyers before we have even left the EU, or even towards US states that voted Trump. would not this type of behaviour border racism possibly.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Andymsa

[Dungrange]

1 hour ago, Andymsa said:

Oh dear that old chestnut, racist comments. I made no such point at all that any particular developer was from any particular country, but now you raise a good point now in the attitude of the German developer towards uk buyers before we have even left the EU, or even towards US states that voted Trump. would not this type of behaviour border racism possibly.

 

It was actually @nigeltaylor that stated the developers of iTrain were Dutch not German, the implication being that all Dutch people are helpful and all German people are not.  I agree with @Colin_McLeod that that sort of comment can be construed as racist and he was right to question the relevance of nationality.   The helpfulness of the developers may be 'chalk and cheese' but that's not because of their nationality or race.  It's simply because some people are arrogant bloody minded b*ggers.  You get them in all countries.

[Colin_McLeod]

9 hours ago, Andymsa said:

 I made no such point at all that any particular developer was from any particular country,

 

8 hours ago, Dungrange said:

 

It was actually @nigeltaylor that stated the developers of iTrain were Dutch not German, the implication being that all Dutch people are helpful and all German people are not. 

 

Andymsa I agree you did not make such a point but when you defended the point I did not notice that you were not the one who made it.

 

[jamespetts]

On 04/05/2020 at 17:56, Ian J. said:

Am I right in thinking RR&Co has no Linux version, but iTrain does?

 I run TrainController on a Linux computer using VirtualBox with a Windows 10 guest.

[Ian J.]

2 hours ago, jamespetts said:

 I run TrainController on a Linux computer using VirtualBox with a Windows 10 guest.

 

I have a VirtualBox VM on my LM laptop, with a Windows 7 guest. I also have an old laptop with Win 7 that has an older copy of TrainController on it, so that could be pressed into use. However, I am always interested in direct Linux programs if they available. If they are good enough to do the job I want, then I will always use them in preference to Using Windows in the VM. An exception that proves the rule is Notepad++. I don't like the Linux port as the last time I tried it it just wasn't fully featured enough compared to the Windows version. I also use the Windows only WinAmp Pro as its CD ripper produces a superior MP3 file for the size of output, and does it faster, compared to any Linux converters I've tried.

[jamespetts]

21 minutes ago, Ian J. said:

 

I have a VirtualBox VM on my LM laptop, with a Windows 7 guest. I also have an old laptop with Win 7 that has an older copy of TrainController on it, so that could be pressed into use. However, I am always interested in direct Linux programs if they available. If they are good enough to do the job I want, then I will always use them in preference to Using Windows in the VM. An exception that proves the rule is Notepad++. I don't like the Linux port as the last time I tried it it just wasn't fully featured enough compared to the Windows version. I also use the Windows only WinAmp Pro as its CD ripper produces a superior MP3 file for the size of output, and does it faster, compared to any Linux converters I've tried.

 

Yes, native is certainly nicer to work with than via a VM. I looked into iTrain and decided that it did not have the functionality that I needed (especially relating to variables/macros), so had to go for TrainController in a VM in the end.

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, Ian J. said:

 

 I also use the Windows only WinAmp Pro as its CD ripper produces a superior MP3 file for the size of output, and does it faster, compared to any Linux converters I've tried.

Have you tried TA Convertor 64?

I have used Winamp in the past but now use TAC64 due to it's versatility. It's also the fastest I have found.

(I normally use FLAC conversion.)

Edited May 9, 2020 by melmerby

[Ian J.]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

Have you tried TA Convertor 64?

I have used Winamp in the past but now use TAC64 due to it's versatility. It's also the fastest I have found.

(I normally use FLAC conversion.)

I haven't, but just checking the download site for it shows it doesn't have a Linux variant, and as I already have WinAmp Pro in a Windows VM I'm happy to stick with that.

[JimFin]

6 hours ago, jamespetts said:

 

Yes, native is certainly nicer to work with than via a VM. I looked into iTrain and decided that it did not have the functionality that I needed (especially relating to variables/macros), so had to go for TrainController in a VM in the end.

Did you ever look at RocRail? https://wiki.rocrail.net/doku.php?id=linux-en

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by JimFin

[RFS]

I notice since the UK left the EU on 30th January, the price for us has sharply increased to "overseas" level: it's now €499 for German users, €505 for other euro countries (which is itself illegal) and $799 for us (same as USA) which equates to €735. Last time I looked the UK was €574. Seems like he really doesn't want non-German users.

 

Perhaps any new UK users need an accommodation address in an EU country such as the Republic of Ireland.

[Andymsa]

21 minutes ago, RFS said:

I notice since the UK left the EU on 30th January, the price for us has sharply increased to "overseas" level: it's now €499 for German users, €505 for other euro countries (which is itself illegal) and $799 for us (same as USA) which equates to €735. Last time I looked the UK was €574. Seems like he really doesn't want non-German users.

 

Perhaps any new UK users need an accommodation address in an EU country such as the Republic of Ireland.

Hi

 

yes I had noticed this as well, to be honest this is a great advert for I-train and I wonder how many have gone with I-train due to the cost of TC now. But he is still in breach of EU rules until our transition period has elapsed. But I guess does he care, the actions speak for itself. I had the same thought my self to an accommodation address but not just Ireland.

 

But as pointed out by jamespetts TC is more versatile at this time but I suspect I-train will catch up and even supass TC  at some point which is now why I also have I-train as well as TC. There is also the future viability of TC, how much longer will there be upgrades as the developer is now no spring chicken like most of us.

Edited May 9, 2020 by Andymsa

[melmerby]

I get the impression that Herr Freiwald Would be happy with just German customers and the rest are a necessary nuisance following previous sales.

If you look at Forum entries German ones greatly outnumber English ones.

In the first page the earliest German entry is 10 days old, on the English it is more than 50 days old.

This suggests users outside Germany are very much in the minority (or non German users don't need to post so many problems!)

[boxbrownie]

Pretty obvious he doesn’t want business from the U.K./US......so just don’t buy it.

 

Not sure why all the fuss TBH.

[melmerby]

1 minute ago, boxbrownie said:

Pretty obvious he doesn’t want business from the U.K./US......so just don’t buy it.

 

Not sure why all the fuss TBH.

Pointless comment

The fuss is because many people have invested not an insignificant amount in the software over the years so it is not a case of "not buying it" but more a case of concern about support for their asset purchased before Herr F. started on his anti non-German business model.

[boxbrownie]

11 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Pointless comment

The fuss is because many people have invested not an insignificant amount in the software over the years so it is not a case of "not buying it" but more a case of concern about support for their asset purchased before Herr F. started on his anti non-German business model.

But surely this has been going on for years now, we all know he is bloody awful at support and even worse at customer relations, time to cut and run I’d have thought now.

[Andymsa]

49 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

But surely this has been going on for years now, we all know he is bloody awful at support and even worse at customer relations, time to cut and run I’d have thought now.

Having started with TC and spent many years developing the layout and still developing and having I-train and at this time slowly developing that which will take some years for many things this alone would be somewhat restrictive to leaving TC It's not that easy to cut and run so users are somewhat locked in to what ever program they chose. the methodology between the programs is completely different and I certainly like many aspects of I-train it is not at the same level as TC at this time. I would suspect that there are not that many new users to TC these days and this could be partly behind the attitude towards uk buyers as opposed to EU buyers.

Edited May 9, 2020 by Andymsa

[RFS]

Having had another look at his prices, it's only the UK and the US where the prices are $799. Everywhere else in the world, including non-EU countries like Norway, it's $649. So he's definitely penalizing us (for leaving the EU) and the US (for Donald Trump). 

Edited May 9, 2020 by RFS

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

But surely this has been going on for years now, we all know he is bloody awful at support and even worse at customer relations, time to cut and run I’d have thought now.

In general it's only the last couple of years that he has started making political rather than business decisions regarding the software.

The support was OK with a decent forum of knowledgable users.

 

Are you prepared to throw £500 in the bin?

If you are you obviously have more money than sense, I'm certainly not going to start again with iTrain but I wont be buying any more TC upgrades and I wont recommend it as a purchase to anyone that asks.

 

[Andymsa]

1 hour ago, RFS said:

Having had another look at his prices, it's only the UK and the US where the prices are $799. Everywhere else in the world, including non-EU countries like Norway, it's $649. So he's definitely penalizing us (for leaving the EU) and the US (for Donald Trump). 

 

Obviously been to the David Brent business school of economics or if running a hotel basil fawty lol

[njee20]

What are the ways it’s superior to iTrain, out of interest. Will be building a new layout shortly and planning to at least wire for automation even if I don’t implement any time soon!

 

I can’t bring myself to give Mr Freiwald any of my money, but what are the shortcomings of iTrain in comparison?