can anyone tell me why EQ's keep updating? don't they all do the same thing?

I started with EQ 3 and each version gets better. Also the program has to be updated to match the updated computers. Each new update has tweaks and add ons that maybe were not possible for the old version. I suspect the newer versions will be more online and more in real time, that will be great to be able to show your work to other EQ users and design together with others.
My computer will not run EQ 3 or 4 now. EQ 5 works fine but there are limitations that EQ 6 does not have.

They just keep getting better and more user friendly. Worth the update.

Once you buy the full version, its worth the upgrade. Each time, they seem to make it a bit more user friendly and add new tools to help. :)

One of the changes they made was to allow you to scan in your own fabrics, another allowed more drawing options....and the first versions may not have been compatible with the newer Window's Operating Systems....

I think EQ6 that I have will do me just fine for many years...I will check out newer versions as they come along, but it does everything that I want to do now

does that mean that in order to keep using your existing computer, you are 'encouraged' to upgrade?

I've had them since the first one, when the upgrade to 2 was only $7. I am at EQ5 now and for what I do with it, it is fine with me and I don't foresee getting #6. I don't see why you can't still use yours with the computer you have now. I enjoy seeing the new fabrics that they add to the list as you get into the higher levels.

i don't have it. i'm trying to understand the marketing aspect. i can see the potential in having a tool that allows you to design and then creates the templates for you. once you have that what do you need the upgrades for? you won't use their fabric, will you? so colors are all you need. right? there are free patterns all over the internet, so do they give you something different? how much does it cost to upgrade? does that mean re-buying the whole thing or retrofitting what you already have? when you upgrade, do you keep what you already have and add on? in other word, why is the original purchase no longer satisfactory, especially if it may not be computer friendly with your computer?

it seems to me that they have designed it with built-in obsolescence.

All versions of EQ will let you design a quilt. Just like an old black and white tv will show the same tv shows as the flat screen picture perfect tv but you saw what happen, the old tvs aren't capable of even receiving any shows now.

I have EQ4 and it works just fine on my up-to-date computer.

It really depends on what you use it for. I use EQ to draw pictures of the quilt that I have designed, to experiment with settings - MOSTLY so I can see the finished measurement of the quilt. For example, I wanted to make a sampler quilt for my guestroom.

I made 12 blocks and knew that wouldn't be enough, so I made 16 and then sat down at the computer and started playing with settings. I wanted my quilt to be about 90" x 90", and I didn't want to make another 8 (or more) blocks. I created the 16 blocks in EQ , in roughly the colors I had used, and then I started "making" quilts of them. Square setting with sashing didn't make them big enough unless I added a lot of borders, but if I set them on point and added sashing, I was getting closer. Then I set them on point with sashings, posts and alternate plain blocks. I was nearly there, so I added a narrow inner border and a 4" outer border. Perfect. Each step of the way, I could see exactly how big the quilt was, so I didn't have to do all the math on paper, and I could see how the sashings and borders looked with each arrangement. I could compare light borders to dark borders and gauge whether or not I needed posts in my sashings. I could make my alternate blocks of the background fabric and then try a darker fabric and then try simple pieced blocks instead of plain blocks.

Those of us who quilted before computers will remember using colored pencils on graph paper and having to do all the math for each possible setting! The patterns I used for my classes and patterns looked pretty un-professional compared to what I can do now, between my CAD and EQ4 programs.

When I am designing quilts for patterns, especially mystery quilts or Block of the Month clubs, I can create a block and save it for use in the finished quilt when I am done, copying and pasting the blocks for each step into the pattern that I will print.

When I am making a quilt for a client, I can quickly draft up a few examples of possible arrangements, save them as jpg images and send them by email (or print them, of course).

So EQ4 works fine for me. I don't need anything else for my personal or professional purposes, and I am not buying stuff I don't need. It's a tool and not a toy for me. I don't sit down to play with it... just for practical purposes. But if you want the upgraded versions, buy it by all means! :)