Clisp Studio Major Update Announcement

(1) Cloud Licensing:

Clisp has grown significantly since its inception and now has hundreds of test types, supported instruments and standards. The existing Physical Security Keys (Dongles) are reaching their limits and we must adapt in order to continue adding features, test types, instruments and standards going forwards.
Therefore, Software based licensing has been added to Clisp Studio. New users going forwards will be given a Software Activation Key with which they can activate their software and moving forward Clisp Studio will transition to using Software Licensing exclusively.

Benefits:
  -  Licenses are stored in the cloud, therefore there is no danger associated with missing or lost dongles;
  -  Software upgrades are done automatically from within Clisp, without the need to uninstall and re-install manually, or contact us.
  -  Demo licenses can be provided for a restricted period of time for customer evaluation;
  -  Cloud license keys can be activated Online (Clisp and Browser) and Offline (Mobile or Email)
  -  The new Software Licensing scheme will allow us to offer additional features and functionality, such as being able to provide Time Limited Demos of any of our software modules at any time^*2.
  -  Licenses can be easily transferred from one PC to another, either on-line or off-line.

How it affects existing users:
  -  All existing users will still be able to continue using their existing Physical Security Keys (dongles) ^*1.
  -  There is an option to switch to Software Licensing if you want to^*3.
  -  Distribution of Clisp will be done in the previous way, (i.e. through VJ Tech’s website)^*3

Resources:
   »   How to activate your Software (Cloud) License key – See Here
   »   Answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions – See Here

(2) Installer:

Not every customer has access to super-fast broadband and as Clisp has grown and operating systems requirements have increased so has the Clisp installer size.

A new, smaller, more efficient, faster and single file installer has been created using the latest industry standards and is now available directly from within Clisp^*4.

(3) Pro2 Instrument Support

 VJ Tech has started shipping Mark 2 Pro Series instruments, this new revision includes numerous performance improvements and all associated connectivity and integration with Clisp Studio. These devices require this latest release of Clisp Studio to operate. 

A new Instrument has been released, call sales for more details of this instrument and the testing supported.

In the past, security restrictions imposed by Microsoft prevented supporting applications that Clisp Studio required from being installed in some enterprise environments. This was due to the version of the database software used and code signing requirements on publishers.

Clisp now meets those requirements in full and can be installed in all flavours of Windows 10 from Professional upwards.

This has been achieved by the purchase of Enhanced Validation Code Certificate and its implementation into both Clisp itself, the application installer and all third-party files deployed with Clisp Studio.

In addition, Clisp Studio now uses the latest version of Microsoft SQL Server (Express) as its database. This version is fully supported by Microsoft and will receive service packs and regular security updates via the inbuilt Windows Update mechanisms in enterprise scale environments.

With these two architectural improvements Clisp will now be more secure and operating system supported for several years to come.

Along with database and digital signatures, we have updated drivers, frameworks and third-party tools to the latest supported versions to allow Clisp to be installed and run-on Windows 11 Professional upwards.

All Code, libraries, tools and utilities used in the creation of Clisp Studio are now Digitally Signed using an Enhanced Validation Code Signing Certificate provided by the world recognized Thales Group.

This ensures that Microsoft Validation and Microsoft Application Security will recognize and verify the software being installed really is from VJ Tech Limited and has not been modified from the original.

Clisp Studio has always used the industry gold standard in database technology, Microsoft SQL Server (Express Edition) to store all your data. This will continue and Clisp is now using the very latest version with all the security and supported operating system updates included.

When installing the latest version of Clisp, this newer version of Microsoft SQL Server (Express) will be installed alongside any existing database installation^*5.

Installation WILL NOT remove existing database data.

Your existing databases will be backed up and copied (not replaced) into the new version of Microsoft SQL Server (Express).

This is the safest way possible to upgrade and give the ability to revert at any time as your data will remain unmodified.

As with every release of Clisp Studio, new features, fixes and requested functionality has been added.

To see the complete list please refer to the release notes included in the installer.

^*1New testing modules and features will be added over time. Some of these features may require a Software License to operate and a transition to a software license may be required.

^*2 Speak to your sales rep to discuss your requirements at the time of purchase.

^*3 Free software updates/downloads are subject to the existing free upgrades policy.

^*4 In Application upgrades are only available to Software License Users.

^*5 During testing we have noted that on rare occasions, Microsoft SQL Server Express will fail to install due to an existing partial installation existing on the users machine. If this occurs contact service for assistance in removing it.