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by atwebb 4371 days ago
It amazes me that you've completely missed out on some of the reasons for people complaining about the cost. My comment is one you're railing against and I think you're off base. Even going by your factor of time, I have to bet $1,000 that this product will be worth both that money and the time that I have to put into learning and dealing with it. There's no VS trail (as far as I know). So other than going off of blog posts and advice, I have to pay at least $300 and then learn both the tool and it's IDE or gamble an extra $700 that it will be useful in an IDE/environment I'm already familiar with.
2 comments
keithwarren 4371 days ago
Being honest, there will be very little learning curve going from VS to Xamarin Studio. They tried to make that switch as painless as possible.

You are right, there is a factor of learning that needs to be baked into your consideration but there comes a point where you put a little trust in people who came before you and tell you 'I have done this, I have been where you are - follow me and you will be fine'.

On the flip side, Nat Friedman is incredibly approachable. I am sure if you simply email him and tell him your concerns he will accommodate you with a longer trial period or some kind of money back guarantee, that just how he is.

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atwebb 4371 days ago
Great, now I feel like my reply was way too snarky. I'll give the XS IDE a try and I want to be clear to any Xamarin/dev folks reading here, I in no way think all this stuff should be free. I just see that as a limiting barrier and, judging by the comments here and elsewhere, so do others. I appreciate your reply and insight, thanks!
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sochinochi 4371 days ago
We recently introduced pricing for SMBs and Start Ups. You can shoot an email to hello@xamarin.com if interested.
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wongwf82 4369 days ago
How does one become Xamarin certified from Australia/Malaysia?
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Cakez0r 4371 days ago
Even purchasing a business license (allowing you to use visual studio) for two platforms would still be cost effective at $1998 per year. Given that you're developing one code base instead of two, I'd guess the productivity increase would be at least 50%.
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