Change to UA in 2022 subscription version limits to only 1 device

Andreas, I think the issue BVasily raised is when you are travelling and you might have inadvertently left MindManager running at home. In this situation there appears to be no way to log out the open install if you want to use MM on your laptop while you are away.

This is admittedly a rare situation but it can happen. There are two ways to resolve this. The first is to allow more than one install on the same licence to be open at the same time (not all cloud-based subscriptions forbid multiple users - for example, the standard Microsoft 365 subscription allows up to five users simultaneously on one licence). The second is to provide a way to log out of an already-running install when you try to log in from another device.

If you disconnect your PC at home from the internet, you can log in.

But still, why should anybody have turned on his computer all the time at home and MindManager is running???

Good idea is having the possibility of an automatic logout.

Alex you know the reason for the login user is the huge piracy and unauthorized copies. For the last 25 years MindManager always trusted their user, but the login became necessary 😭

Hi Andreas,

Yes, I understand that one reason why MindManager, along with many other companies, has introduced a subscription model is to control piracy. Of course, many have argued that another reason is to increase cash flow by forcing everyone to subscribe and pay annually so the program keeps working.

Despite this cynical perspective on subscriptions, it's not the requirement to log in that's the issue. In my view, MindManager has not done itself any favours with its current approach. For new users there is now nothing between the very expensive single "one-time purchase" licence with no access to MM server-based services like snap, publishing or co-editing, and the very expensive "Professional" version where you pay over $100 more annually than the previously moderately expensive MSA to gain access to these other features - but you can have only one install in use at any one time. Furthermore. current users on MSAs and UPPs don't know whether or when the axe will fall on their access to server services.

Contrast this to Microsoft, where an annual Office 365 family subscription which not only gives you access to all the major Office programs (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc) but also allows up to five devices to be registered and used simultaneously, all for about half the cost of the new MM subscription.

I know the business versions of Office cost more but they are still better value. I also understand that MindManager is a specialised product and that it will never enjoy the sales figures that Office gets, so it's always going to be considerably more expensive. At AU$262.90 annually I still think the very least they could do is permit two installs per licence and allow these to be used simultaneously.

Finally, if this current limitation is to be continued then I agree that an automatic logout on the first install would be a good idea when you log in from a second device. However, I still think that there should an option to opt out in case there is some reason whey you want to keep the first install running, (for example, you're not sure if you have unsaved files open).

This has been the behavior I was used to in my 2021 desktop version. When I uninstalled the desktop version and installed the new 2022 version and left a desktop open, I was unable to get past the MindManager license sign in screen with the error the maximum number of licenses had been reached. I have uninstalled the 2022 subscription and reinstalled 2021 and everything works as prior. I requested and promptly received a refund from Clevergridge for the 2022 subscription. I will wait to see if Corels policy changes before upgrading again.

Hi Blair,

That’s great news. I apologise - as I said I haven’t installed MM 22 yet and couldn’t reproduce this behaviour with MM 21, so I assumed based on the original post that MindManager had started to enforce the EULA in MM 22.

Hopefully MindManager will allow this arrangement to continue, at least to the extent of allowing two installs to operate simultaneously. This can be helpful if you have an issue which you want to try to replicate on two computers at the same time, if you are testing how a new feature or add-in works in different environments or if you are comparing how MindManager operates across Windows and Mac environments.

Thank you Blair 👍😀