Protection PLUS

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Choose the Protection PLUS edition that suits your needs right now with the confidence that it will scale and can be upgraded as your needs require. When comparing editions you are evaluating tried and true technology with a strong history of protection, customer diversity, and millions of activations behind it. This product is a proven value that can't be beat. The expertise of SoftwareKey support staff provides you extra peace of mind that you will have everything you need in a licensing solution. We're here to help you get started, so feel free to Contact Us.

You can purchase an upgrade to another edition at any time. Any upgrade automatically extends your software maintenance for email support and current-version upgrades/fixes.

1. Instant PLUS Wizard - The Instant PLUS wizard provides the most commonly-requested licensing business logic and user interface with little or no source code changes required. The Instant PLUS Wizard is based upon our Generation 4 licensing libraries.
2. Instant PLUS Advanced API - In addition to the pre-defined application startup logic, developers can call an advanced API to retrieve license information during runtime for extra control.
3. SDK Generation/Version - The Protection PLUS Software Development Kit (SDK) is available for developers who want to customize the licensing business logic and/or user-interface. The Protection PLUS Professional / Enterprise / Internet Editions provides Generation 4 licensing libraries. The .NET Edition provides Generation 5 licensing libraries for VB.NET and C# and other languages which can call .NET libraries. Generation 5 native libraries are currently under development.
4. .NET SDK - The Professional / Enterprise / Internet Editions of Protection PLUS include Generation 4 .NET SDK, which is interoperable with the other licensing libraries. This is a Mixed Mode Library (native code with .NET wrapper) that can target 32-bit projects only. The project will run on both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. The .NET Edition of Protection PLUS uses Generation 5 .NET SDK which is 100% managed code and projects can target x86 (32-bit) x64 (64-bit) or 'Any CPU' (default).
5. License File Format - Generation 4 licensing libraries support several pre-defined and user-defined data fields of various data types for purposes of licensing your application. The size of the file is fixed. Generation 5 licensing libraries support several pre-defined and user-defined data fields. The license file is a variable-size XML document that is extremely extensible.
6. License File Encryption / Verification - Generation 4 licensing libraries use a legacy proprietary symmetric-based encryption technology. You choose a password to randomize the encryption. Generation 5 licensing libraries use strong RSA digital signatures and public key cryptography. Because the key used to create the digital signature and to encrypt the data is kept private by SOLO Server, it is very difficult to create a License File which will pass validation by these libraries. RSA key sizes are easily expanded / changed. As stronger computers become cheaper, the complexity of the calculations is scalable, thus providing a better long-term encryption solution.
7. License File Storage - Generation 4 licensing libraries can store the License File in the file system or Windows registry only. Generation 5 licensing libraries are designed in a manner in which the XML License File may be stored in any means convenient to the developer - file, registry, database, etc.
8. .NET Project Compatiblity - The Generation 4 .NET library is not usable in all .NET project types (such as web applications), due to limitations of mixed mode .NET libraries imposed by Microsoft. It also requires references to Systems.Windows.Forms as well as additional configuration for projects that targets .NET Framework 4.0. The Generation 5 .NET library (available in the .NET Edition) can be run in any .NET project type including web applications. It also does not require references to Systems.Windows.Forms and can be used in .NET framework 4.0 projects without additional configuration.
9. Developer Licenses - The Professional Edition is an entry-level product for a single developer and/or single product. The Enterprise and Internet Editions are designed for multiple developers and/or multiple products. It is possible to upgrade from one edition to another at any time. Starting with Protection PLUS 5, all editions (including .NET Edition) are licensed per developer.
10. Redistribution/Royalty Policy - The libraries are licensed to protect applications. When an application is protected, you may distribute copies of your software along with our licensing libraries without limit. With the Professional Edition, you are entitled to royalty-free distribution for one product. With the Enterprise, Internet, and .NET Editions, you are entitled to royalty-free distribution for all of your company's products.
11. Software Maintenance - includes email support and download access to the latest version of the product.
12. SOLO Server Compatibility - Protection PLUS Professional / Enterprise / Internet Editions SDKs can be used both with or without SOLO Server / Instant SOLO Server. Instant PLUS (available in all Protection PLUS Editions) can also be used both with or without SOLO Server / Instant SOLO Server. The Protection PLUS .NET Edition SDK is typically used with SOLO Server / Instant SOLO Server to create read-only License Files. You can also optionally choose to use a writable, self-signed license file, which still uses RSA cryptography. However, this is less secure than license files signed by SOLO Server. SOLO Server Lite cannot be used with the .NET Edition SDK.

[Protection PLUS] is the most cost effective way of protecting your applications...and is only limited by your imagination.

Manny G., Boston Computer Society

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