Well... at least put a pay-pal account number up.

Maybe you just provide two or three levels of lifetime membership. This is me speaking with no authority on the matter, but: I think most of the free (as in beer) software users will contribute $ if they can be reasonably certain it will mean the project will continue, and if it is optional, and if registration doesn't mean loss of anonymity.

i.e. I'll give you $20 USD if I'm sure the projects not going to die out in a few months anyway, and if I'm not forced to, and if I can just contribute $20 and get a registration # without giving you my name, address, or any other _personal_ info (using, for example, a yahoo email account as the only method for identification.)

I wouldn't put too much work into complicated copy protection/reg schemes-- if "they" could crack/defeat WinXP, they can probably defeat anything you'd want to put the resources into.

And definitely, definitely, do _not_ have a forced ad-ware version (free) and a non-adware version ($). There are already plenty of tools like that out there. That's why ppl like me turn to tools like xolox and gnucleus-- I don't like being forced into anything, and if I wanted to go that route, I'd have long since committed to another prog. And isn't that one of the reasons (perhaps?) that y'all started xolox in the first place?

just my $0.02, but I have to think a _lot_ of ppl out there share the same opinions/feelings/thoughts.

(P.S.: the manic in "manic depressive" refers to the mood up-swing-- manic depression, aka bipolar disorder, is the roller-coaster mood disorder. Severe depression is called "major depression". That's a common mistake-- I'm not sure if that's what you meant, but just in case.. )

Cheers!