Zeus IDE

I'm on the market for a new programmer's editor. I've been using Edit Pad Pro. However, I'd like a much more capable editor. I do a lot of Java, Ruby, and things like that.

Right now, I'm trying UltraEdit Studio and NetBeans. Then I stumbled across Zeus and thought I'd give it a try. However, I was shocked to read the following in the FAQ:

Does the purchase of Zeus entitle me to free upgrades?

"No, the Zeus upgrades are not free of charge."

"But having said this, we also stand by the quality of our software. This means that any registered user reporting any serious bug is entitled to a free upgrade. By serious bug we mean a program crash, an unexpected error or any form of data corruption."

To say that I am appalled is an understatement.

- I cannot think of a serious, commercial programmer's product like this that does not provide one year of free upgrades. According to the FAQ, I could buy this product, see it upgraded the next day, and have to pay for the upgrade.

- From what you say, if a registered user encounteres a bug that causes a program crash or data corruption, he or she will receive a free update. There is absolutely no provision to notify other users pr provide them with updates.

As a computer science professor, I teach my students more than computer science. I also teach them how to support their customers, something about which this company apparently does not have a clue.

I'm going to delete my download without even installing it.

I cannot think of a serious, commercial programmer's product like this that does not provide one year of free upgrades.

The Zeus 3.96 version has had free upgrades since 19 th Jan 2007: http://www.zeusedit.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=6

From what you say, if a registered user encounteres a bug that causes a program crash or data corruption, he or she will receive a free update.

At the time this was written, yes that was the case and in the 15 years that Zeus has been around, it has actually happened on a dozen or so occasions.

The reality is Zeus has never had that many fatal bugs for this to be an major issue and in general Zeus does not crash.

But on those rare occasion that a user does find an major issue with the software I will go out of my way fix it.

There is absolutely no provision to notify other users provide them with updates.

If any user had reported the same or similar bug then they would have also got a free patch. I don't see any excuse for any program to crash on a regular basis and I certainly don't try to make money by forcing a user to upgrade just to fix bugs in the software.

As a computer science professor, I teach my students more than computer science. I also teach them how to support their customers

I stand by the Zeus customers support. I think it has always been much better than most.

something about which this company apparently does not have a clue.

You are entitled to your opinion.

Cheers Jussi