I assumed I had missed something when I first read about this announcement; surely you couldn't mean after July 15th there would be no discount for First/Pro Edition customers? But it seems that is the case.
This is quite a shock to me too. I am in a similar position to Tom's. I have a full time office job that is not very well paid, and the Pro Edition took me a lot of time to save for in order to buy. I have held off upgrading to the SC thinking I was safe in the knowledge that the upgrade path would be there indefinitely. I was considering upgrading at the end of the year. Now I have a big problem, since I haven't budgeted for this expense at all, and 3 months isn't enough time for me to save the money to buy SC.
No way would anyone pay twice for the same samples. I thought this was one of your mantras - no-one should have to pay for the same sample twice. It seems like a fair policy - why abandon it now? Just because you will have a new upgrade scheme - it doesn't mean you have to wipe the slate clean completely.
How about, as a compromise, you extend the deadline until say December 31st? That would at least be a token gesture for your loyal customers? I know you have already sent out the press releases and ads, but companies extend deadlines quite often if it is in the interests of everyone concerned - even you guys.
Please give it some thought. I'm sure there are many others in our position.
-Darren