We are pleased to announce that a new release of the package is now ready to be shipped on CD. A summary of the changes and improvements is contained in Version-1999.0 Release Notes.
Switching to CD (from previous release) has enabled us to do away with our requirement for all sites to sign and return a license agreement before we ship them the package. From Release 1999.0 onwards we will employ the common practice of making the license part of the packaging: if you break the seal you agree to the terms of the license. This will make it much easier for people to obtain the package, especially when coupled with the change described below.
Switching to CD has also cut our distribution costs, and by removing the need to handle the signed license agreements, we have reduced our administration load, so that we can now supply the whole package on CD FREE to academic users. This also means that we will no longer give the option for academic sites to pay in advance for all updates for the coming year: we will announce each release as it is ready for shipping and those who want it must email us with their request (and their address).
There is no change to our prices for commercial sites but we will also change to the new licensing method and hence remove the need for signed agreements to be passed around.
More information on the Windows NT port is available in a separate page.