Can't purchase

So, I figured I'd do the right thing and purchase a license, but as I live in a little-known backwater of the world (known as Australia), I can't. The US store only accepts purchases from the US and Canada, and the EMEA store (assuming I'm willing to pay double the amount!) only takes orders from EMEA. Why the limitations? Surely if you're going to commercialize the product you should do so in a way that allows people to actually purchase it.

An interesting point about the price there.  Why do users purchasing through the UK store have to pay $35 for a product that costs $19.  We should be used to it by now because it happens with everything (you think Vista's expensive in the US!).

 We have relatives in the US and Canda so I can get them to buy it and send it over to me but it would be nice not to have to do that just so that I don't feel ripped off.

 Great product by the way, just charge everyone the same to use it!

We would like as many people as possible to be able to enjoy AutoCollage. AutoCollage is available through Microsoft's online stores, namely Windows Marketplace and the online Microsoft Store in the UK. Microsoft is working to expand its online stores into more regions, and hopefully AutoCollage will be more broadly available for purchase soon.

Thank you for your patience, I'm sorry it's not available for purchase in Australia yet

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply.

I realise that if you're with Microsoft Research then the operational aspects of getting the product into the marketplace are totally outside of your job description. That said, any idea how long it's going to take to have this addressed? I'd really like to get rid of the watermark, and my eval period is running out. The reality is that if it can't be resolved, I'll just have to go looking for another tool.

Given that Windows Marketplace has been online for ages, I can't see any big announcements in the next thirty days :-(

This is what happens when they take your hard work and try and commercialize it. Without the ability to actually sell to a global marketplace maybe it would have been a better idea to fold the functionality into Windows Live Photo Gallery. It's a great product - just a shame that people outside of EMEA and USA/Canada can't use it.

Cheers,

Richard

Hi Richard -

Unfortunately I don't know any timeframes for Microsoft Store explansion into other regions. One thing that should give a little hope: the new sites in new countries will be Microsoft Stores, not Windows Marketplace. Windows Marketplace has been around for ages, but the online Microsoft Stores are quite new.

Our team will get together this week and see if there's any way we can make AutoCollage more broadly available sooner. If we come up with any solutions, we'll be sure to post them here.

Thanks for trying AutoCollage, and for your patience while we get this worked out!

john

I'll just add my note that I would love to be able to purchase AC2008 in Australia as well.

 Please sort this out before my 30 days expires !!

When will we be able to purchase autocollage in canada im getting tired of this only in America then again Canada in Mexico are in America to Whats going on here

Unfortunately the answer for availability in Canada is the same as for other regions where AutoCollage isn't already available. The online Microsoft Store is expanding into new regions, and we hope to have broader availability of AutoCollage soon, but we don't have any specific information on dates and regions.

Sorry I can't give you a more precise answer to your question, but as soon as we have more information we'll post details in this forum.

Thanks for your patience!