I just bought ACID Pro 11 Suite. I think this may be the last product I buy from Magix.

I've bought three previous versions of ACID Pro, 4, 6, and 7. I just got a new computer and figured I would buy the latest version of the software. But I'm already regretting dealing with Magix. I remember that when I bought 7, the process to register that one was bumpy too.

And from reading Magix's own forum -- which it sends us to to save money because its customer service is so slow -- I learn that version 7 is the most stable. ACID 11 is called "Pro" but its own users make it sound too unstable to use even for me, a hobbyist.

I have gotten the sense that Magix has a habit of acquiring products and then underfunding their development, making them worse in the process. It reaps the fruits of past development and releases new versions to entice people like me to buy, but then we're filled with regret. I hope I'm wrong.

But here again I wind up flummoxed right from the start. I bought the software and used the download link and serial number in the email. I got the error, "The serial number you entered is invalid or may apply to another product. Please make sure you entered it correctly or check whether you accidentally entered the serial number of another product. If the problem persists, you can get help on the support website. / Error code: -14".

Not a good sign. Regrets already. Then I went to the Magix website and tried to enter the serial number there, and was told, "Serial number already used / The serial number you entered has already been used. You may have already registered. Registering again is not necessary. If you have any questions, please contact out technical support team: > http://support.magix.net ".

ACID Pro will not even let me use the trial version now, because do to so I have to register, but I am already registered so cannot register. "Register now" is grayed out and I'm left to enter a code beginning with "TRIALC-".

I'm tired of companies playing games with the registration process, which negates trust right from the start. And given the awful support provided, this may not be easy to fix -- certainly not quick. Even having to write this in itself is annoying. I wanted to have fun with music, not deal with this.

I'm sorry to sound cynical, but I've bought ACID Pro four times now, and I think it is rather unfortunate that it was bought by Magix instead of a company that might have taken better care of it. It was such a beautiful piece of software. From Magix's own forum it sounds like it may now be too unstable to use. For me it's too unstable even to install!

The installation process was even pretty clunky -- like a dozen separate installations one after the other.

I'm leaning toward skipping the headaches of dealing with Magix and what sounds like a ruined Acid Pro and just trying something else. Or perhaps I can still install ACID Pro 7. But I remember having problems installing that because the version I bought was an upgrade, and installing it on a new computer required having the old version installed on that computer. But the previous version I had was also an upgrade. The thanks you get for being a good customer of a product is being treated this way, I guess.

Maybe I should just say enough is enough, and move on from Magix. It seems like too much of a pain.