May
Free simulator – for now.
Imperas has been providing a free ESL simulator and models called Open Virtual Platforms (OVP) since their OVPWorld site went live a year or so ago. Recently, they did a survey of their users to find out the demand for a Linux version and also to gauge if the market would be willing to pay for some of the capabilities. Imperas is already selling some add on tools, such as a multi-core debugger and productivity tools. While they remain committed to making the models open-source, it has never been clear what their long term strategy would be for the simulator. I recently discovered some of the results of their survey and it appears as if they may soon start charging for the simulator.
My sources were not able to tell me if the existing simulator version would remain free, or if it would be new improved versions that they would start charging for, but if you have any interest in this simulator, now would be a good time to get the free version before it is possibly withdrawn. Their timetable for this is unknown, so act quickly if you are interested.
Well, I hope you got your free copy if you were interested in it. Here is the press release that Imperas issued just a few days after my post:
http://www.ovpworld.org/newsblog/?cat=3
The simulator will now cost you $300 per month for commercial usage. Hope I saved you some money.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:28 am“Free” simulator – is not a business model. But on the other hand, $300/mon per user is an obscene price for such a simple poduct.
May 21st, 2009 at 7:45 pmI completely agree with you probably “free” simulator is not a business model but $300/month per user neither!!!
May 25th, 2009 at 3:48 pm