I think Pianoteq's auth scheme is acceptable.  Most companies specify you can only use software on one computer.  I have Pianoteq on my main DP in the family room, an a second setup in my bedroom, and on my laptop I travel with.  I think that's awesome, and makes the $350+ price worth it for me.

Also, on a tangential note, Pianoteq's demo is great... it completely is the reason I ended up paying for the final product.  Synthogy Ivory sounds fine in example songs, but I would never, ever buy it without a functional demo and their iLok scheme is another dead end for me!  Although after trying the demo of True Pianos I would never buy it either!

If I have a dual boot system, and I install Pianoteq on both operating systems (ex. Linux and Windows) will it be one authorization or two?

It is one authorization.

No.

If you mean a virtual machine such as vmware or parallels, yes that is very likely. However it is also very likely that you will get terrible audio performance when running pianoteq in a vm.

No.

Is the authorization based on the hardware configuration or System ID? If I have a dual boot system, and I install Pianoteq on both operating systems (ex. Linux and Windows) will it be one authorization or two?

If I install Pianoteq in Wine under the Linux OS, would that be a third installation?

If I install Pianoteq in a virtual environment within an already authorized environment, would that be a fourth?

If I install both 32 bit and 64bit versions (dual boot Windows 7), is that considered 2 authorizations?

JR

It's easier catchup became highly popular among frenchs, than Modartt goes away.

This ties me to your servers for authorization, and what happens if the company goes away?

The answer to that specific question is actually right in the FAQ:

It would be nice, though, to know a little more about what's actually used by the activation scheme to distinguish between computers.  I bought Pianoteq only recently, but just a couple days after installing it, it suddenly decided it didn't like my laptop anymore, and wanted me to reactivate.  Let's say I fill up all 3 of my activation slots, and I start needing to (permanently) deactivate some.  How do I know I won't need one of those identities again in the future?

Wouldn't it be a surprise to be setting up your PT laptop for a performance, only to find out that it's demanding another activation, and you're stuck without Internet access...

That said, I much prefer this to dongles :-)

Voltara

Argh! yes! No dongles!!!!!!!!

+1

Nonononono, NO FREAKING DONGLES!
It's the most obtrusive "copy protection" that can exist.

Seconded.  Not to mention that the last time I had to set up iLok, the drivers for Vista64 installed a 32-bit kernel driver which naturally didn't work and the authorization had to be done on a 32-bit computer.

This scheme works perfectly for the most of us, I think johnrule is one of rare people that has an issue with it. Really, I don't want to pay for something that can easily get lost in transport or be broken. It's the most obtrusive "copy protection" that can exist.

https://www.ilok.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/iLokManager

Would this make it easier to transfer from one machine to another?

"De-activate" should simply clear the authorization for that computer, and delete it from the list (i.e. database)...not lock it out from further authorizations.

JR

This is a very bad authorization scheme. This ties me to your servers for authorization, and what happens if the company goes away? I do not like this at all. I frequently need to move between hardware, and I frequently upgrade my hardware. It seems to me that I will not be able to freely do this without someone on your end resetting something, correct?

I should have three authorizations that I can use freely, and that means in any combination of hardware that I wish, at any given time without constraint. From what I gather, I can find myself in a position of having run out of activations, and not being able to use Pianoteq in the future....at least not without your assistance

JR