“Laughter is a valuable exercise for health,” said Aristotle a few centuries ago. The developers of WinRAR file compression and decompression software must be thinking the same, who have shown a good sense of humor in the face of adversity over the past few weeks. In bad weather, you know: a good face… and a healthy smile, as the wise men of Stagira used to say.
He made his last show of humor a few days back, via twitter, to thank Luca D’Amico, a developer who just spent $25.57 for his license. “Finally a paid member of the WinRAR family”, company published Next to an emoji of a smiley face with a military salute.
To understand the message and what is special about D’Amico’s gesture, it is necessary to remember what WinRAR is, a tool in which there is really little that is new: its origins. 90sAt the time of 32-bit Windows, when it was launched as an efficient way to compress and decompress files of many formats, such as ZIP, TAR, Gzip or of course RAR.
Facing Challenges… Sense of Humour
Your software is not the only one doing this. There are other similar or more popular alternatives, such as 7Zip, although due to its features WinRAR has managed to acquire a community of unconditional fans, as reported in 2021 on GenBeta.
If the tool has one quirk, it’s not its greater or lesser ability to retain users, but something more curious and practical: once the 40-day free trial is up, WinRAR reminds you friendly popup You have to go through the box to get the license.
Of course, unlike other programs it doesn’t go further.
Stated in plain romance: WinRAR allows you to continue to enjoy its functions without any further feedback than to see that same, insistent and relentless little message pop up every time you open the program. Reminds you that you haven’t paid yet: “Note that WinRAR is not free software. After the 40-day trial, you must purchase a license or remove it from your computer.” Nothing else. nothing less.
Therefore, over the years, paying for a WinRAR license and perpetual window has become almost a running joke. Ironically, there are even those who compare users passing through the checkout to “mythical creatures” of sorts. After all… why take out your wallet and, as D’Amico just did, let yourself around 30 euro If there are other free alternatives or you can use the same service completely free of cost?
Well then. D’Amico isn’t alone.
there are those who preceded themLike our colleague Marcos Merino, who in this interesting report published in 2021 in Genabeta, explains the reasons why at the end of 2018, after almost a decade and a half of using WinRAR, he had to spend 20 euros to buy his license at a discount. Inspired to Fifty%.
Not too long ago, another user also bought a CD with a copy of the program, as reported on LGR Blueds, although in this case the outlay was more a response to a joke than a genuine desire to support the developers. does. Ultimately, WiNRAR is still a perfectly useful tool in 2023, but it’s much less popular to buy software on CD.
With that kind of background, it’s better understood when D’Amico uploaded a photo of a WinRAR invoice to Twitter a few days ago for $25.57, a price that, as one might say, includes a 22% Exemption included, company decided to celebrate adding irony: “after all a fully paid member,
Blinking doesn’t mean WinRAR they are waiting for their users to get fed up with their messages and finally check out. Its administrators claim to have close to 500 million users worldwide, whom it serves Compatible with Windows 10 and 11 And, he’s found an interesting source of income in another area: the corporate market.
It may be more or less easy for someone to ignore your warning messages; When it comes to a business, however, continuing to use the software after the trial period is over is more problematic.
So, a few days ago, when Microsoft announced that it would offer native support for RAR files in Windows 11, one of the first companies that came to mind for many was WinRAR, given its increased competition. .
The reaction of its creators when they learned of Redmond’s plans still shows the same good sense of humor as they thank D’Amico for buying an official copy. published a simple tweetBut Tremendous: The Famous Dog Meme That Proclaims “This is right” While the flames surround it with a phrase: “We’re #Windows11 now”.
The healing power of a smile, which Aristotle had already foretold.
Via: genbeta
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