those who are willing to trial the new 'Impulse' may also just be the people Stardock would prefer to be also testing this alpha/beta/whatever ver of ObjectDock
You can't and shouldn't assume that. It's because you're denying people the choice to have one without the other. How about just a simple download link here so I can download the alpha without having to get Impulse? Piece of cake if you ask me.
It is just possible that the release was NOT also on SDC because it was seen to be preferable to NOT widely release the OD alpha/beta/whatever
There's a contradiction right there. First a member of Stardock says that "We want more people to use Impulse to get their updates so that 1. Impulse is getting hit like it should be, thus allowing us to know more about bugs, stresses, etc". However, you're saying that it's not meant to be widely released. It's either one or the other, make your mind up.
This is NOT in perpetuity. There WILL be a limit.
Considering that there's nothing in OD+ license that indicates the timescales of how long the license is valid for or for how long the updates will be released then it's unreasonable for a customer to assume that any kind of limits exist.
If, along the way, the delivery system for such revisions is changed [like no downloads, only CD purchases - I remember one like that, and no, not Stardock], and the customer chooses NOT to partake of/accept the changed methodology then that is HIS decision and his alone.
However, if the downloads method works just fine and the fleet of carrier pigeons that would deliver those CD purchases sometimes would either get lost or have any other kind of problems then a customer has every right to feel enraged about the delivery methodology. It's at that point the company has to negotiate the alternatives because for some people it's just not working.
Impulse is new, yes...but it does not slaughter your sleeping children, nor does it kill computers, AND it is quite comfortable co-existing with Stardock Central. I myself currently have both running.
First of all, it's only coexisting with SDC because Impulse is currently in beta stage. And let's not go down the road of "since everything is ok for me then things must be ok for everyone else", shall we? You know as well as I do that you can't generalize like that. Considering that SDC is not completely cut off then why not add something new to it? Considering that you still offer people to buy your products on CDs, I'm surprised that you don't show them the finger, offer only the downloads and when they complain tell them to suck it up, huh? Go on, I dare you!
Once again, I must remind you to answer those questions please. People from Stardock are continuously avoiding them for some unknown to me reason.