First, as a piece of email archiving software, I have absolutely no complaints. I have used MailSteward for a year now and have found it to be reliable and easy to use - just what I wanted. So if you are buying this for the first time, fine.

However, I agree with the previous two reviewers. The upgrade policy is deceptive. In addition to the advertising about free upgrades, it isn't really obvious that v8.0 is a paid for upgrade. So I installed the update from VT, deleting the old copy as usual - only to discover that it costs $20.

To be honest, I wouldn't mind paying the upgrade if the new version was substantially different from the old, but as far as I can tell, it's exactly the same except for a new system of licensing and updating.

And even having said that, I would even pay a small sum for that. But to charge $20 largely for the convenience of the developer is a rip-off.