Synergy 4.0 upgrades

A new version of Synergy, version 4.0, was released on 1 September 2009 to celebrate the arrival of Snow Leopard. This article explains who qualifies for a free upgrades.

Is this a required upgrade for Snow Leopard users?

No, 4.0 is an optional upgrade. The 3.4 series runs fine on Snow Leopard (3.4.1 was prepared especially for it; it includes a workaround for a problem with the volume control hot keys under Snow Leopard).

Upgrading from version 3.0 or later

If you purchased your license on or after 5 September 2006 (the release date of version 3.0) then your license will continue to work with version 4.0, as well as with subsequent updates such as 4.1, 4.2 and so on.

Upgrading from versions older than 3.0

If you purchased your license more than 3 years ago (prior to 5 September 2006 and the release of version 3.0) then your license will not work with version 4.0. You can either purchase a new license, or continue to use an older version of Synergy: your license will always be valid for all versions of Synergy prior to 4.0.

If you decide not to upgrade yet, don’t worry: Synergy 3.4 does work on Snow Leopard.

MacHeist bundle users

MacHeist gave away a special version of Synergy (3.3) for their 2008 Giving Tree promotion. This was a completely free version, built especially for MacHeist, fully unlocked and not requiring a serial number, and does not include any upgrades. For more details see the MacHeist bundle FAQ.

Why is 4.0 a paid upgrade?

It is standard practice in the industry to periodically charge for upgrades, but Synergy for a long time has been an exception to this rule and for the 7 years since it was first released I’ve offered about 88 free updates (between versions 0.1 and 4.0). Version 4.0 is a paid upgrade in order to fund ongoing development.

After the release of 3.1.5 I began a total rewrite, the 3.5 series, which eventually became 4.0. I’ve tried to make the upgrade terms as liberal as possible (3 year grace period, over 1 year of advance notice) in order to make the upgrade as easy as possible for a user base which has grown accustomed to years of free updates. I’ve also been very careful to ensure that those who don’t wish to upgrade still have a working option available to them (the 3.4 series), even on Snow Leopard.

Are upgrades available at discounted prices?

All single-user licenses for Synergy 4.0 purchased through PayPal are 5€. Due to the already low price and the payment processing fees there isn’t really any scope for driving the price any lower, so no discounts are available.

How much notice will licensed users receive before the next paid upgrade?

In this case I’ve tried to give very advanced notice (starting back in January 2008) and be extremely liberal about how old licenses can be and still be valid for the new version (3 years).

If there are ever any plans to introduce any further paid upgrades in the future, I will announce them with as much advance notice as possible.