I have no dog in the hunt in terms of the MAC end of CorelDRAW as I do not and will not support MAC, but one would think to spur professional support for he application a dual license would make sense.
No. I've never thought the non-USA pricing was fully fair. It does cost some extra to administer the taxes and if technically there has to be an EU (for instance) office (typically for lower tax purposes). But it sure doesn't cost that much.
I know of only two, larger software titles (but a few smaller ones) that developed for a different OS well after the original OS release. Maybe because they instituted a dual OS licensing at the time, they treated upgrades the same. But it wasn't a new license cost.
Because I have always used a PC, I also do not remember what Corel did with the previous Mac release. Did they charge full-cost then?
Yes, Corel (and whatever other company) can and do whatever they decide. Which never makes it the right thing to do whether it is for the good of the customers or for Corel. I believe (which doesn't matter to Corel) that what they are doing is absolutely not good for the company in either the short or long term.
Bean counters never see the potential profit right under their noses. Corel at least could have offered a competitive upgrade half-way between. Heck, own CorelDraw and do long documents? Quark offers a competitive upgrade for owning a CorelDraw license. It's dumb Corel cannot see the value and act positively on it.
I'm with Mike here, all the way.
If I were a Mac user successfully running the Windows version of CorelDRAW under Parallels - or had a dedicated computer "on the side" for Windows applications - then I would be very hesitant to take a "leap of faith" in buying a full-price copy of CorelDRAW/Mac, knowing that it could be a chunk of money down the drain if it doesn't work out long-term.
Dual license would totally change the decision making there.
Mikewe I believe you're incorrect about non-USA pricing. If memory serves Corel charges the same amount for CD and any difference the end user pays in their country is due to taxation. It's bad especially in Europe and Asia. I believe I talked to someone a few years ago and CD was triple what I paid in the U.S.. I'm all for a better business climate.
What follows is my poor understanding. It's been a while since I last had to be involved in the process.
VAT in Europe is currently (last time I checked) between 17% and 27% for SaaS, and different (lower if I recall) for physical goods.
A typical practice of software companies, though, is to take the highest rate possible and not distinguish between countries by adding it into the price + a handling charge...and be careful because some yet still charge VAT on what should have been the net cost. I have no idea how Corel charges VAT in Europe. But if the base price we see in the USA isn't what the price is to say someone in GB and they still pay VAT...then a bit of greed is happening.
Mike