Well, the subject says it all. Can I downgrade Xeams to an older version and continue using that for free?

Check http://www.xeams.com/older-build.htm for details

For which build did the new licencing come into effect?  5864?? If so, Xeams was free until October 12 2016 (5862).

Now you're saying that: If you want to continue to use a free version, use 5776 (March 22 2015).  MORE than a YEAR before the "change".

What technical reason would prevent us being able to use a build up to 5862?

This just keeps getting better.... lol ... I believe it is time to look into EFA.

I downloaded build 5776 and tested it out. Although the interface is a bit old, filtering is working fine. I think I am going to stick with this older build at least for the near future.

I also looked into EFA and others - Xeams is definitely better and easier to manage.

It's a joke....

Thanks for making this "official".  I would recommend offering limited upgrades on a delayed cycle ... perhaps offering an annual upgrade.

Why you might ask?

Because the people using the old version will be the savvy users that helped build the product by being your beta testers over the years.

Additionally they're often decision makers and evangelists for users/companies that would become licensed users.

Lastly, like myself, I can see them eventually being able to justify a licensed version.   Right now, it just doesn't make sense for me(80% because of the way this transition was handled).

This is... almost generous, though this build is before Noah with a pain-in-the-butt java live monitoring.

The bigger problem is that it's not working on any of my servers, a 2003 or a sbs2011. Service starts, but that is all. It works fine on a win7 client.. Is this a limitation, or an issue I just haven't been able to figure out?

I tried on Windows 2008 and it works. Although the interface is older, filtering works just fine.

The 64-bit version does the same on both servers, the 2003 and the 2011: service starts, admin web is unreachable from local or anywhere.

The 32-bit version starts up on the 2003 but dies in about a minute when I use the admin page (while going over menu options), the service just stops. After restarting the service the same happens over and over.

On the 2011 it doesn't start at all, stops with :

[2016-11-16 16:59:19] [info]  Starting service...
[2016-11-16 16:59:19] [error] The specified module could not be found.
[2016-11-16 16:59:19] [error] Failed creating java C:\Xeams\jre\bin\server\jvm.dll
[2016-11-16 16:59:19] [error] The specified module could not be found.
[2016-11-16 16:59:19] [error] ServiceStart returned 1
[2016-11-16 16:59:19] [error] The specified module could not be found.
[2016-11-16 16:59:19] [info]  Run service finished.
[2016-11-16 16:59:19] [info]  Commons Daemon procrun finished

I have not uninstalled Xeams because it seems pointless just renamed the original directory and let the installer create a new, the service and its parameters seem to be the same anyway. Replaced the directory with the old one, it runs fine. But not the 5776...

No problem with 2008 or sbs2011, should work without problem. Make sure to update your windows, then Use Chrome as your default web interface for 2008

There is a video setup for the older version with sbs2011 on youtube that I have checked out bfore.

Yea, "should" or not, it don't work for me on two servers (the release version works just fine...). What does what browser I use has to do to it at all, anyway?

Here is my "guess" why is it not working. Xeams is based on Java, which no longer works on Windows XP and 2003. Try replacing the JRE folder with an older version of Java and see if that helps.

An FYI: my copy of Xeams is working fine and therefore, I have not tried this suggestion on my end.

It doesn't explain why doesn't it work on the 2011, and why the new version do.

I have installed version build 5776 before on 4 servers running SBS2011 without any issues. What I did was install SBS2011. Ran full windows update. installed Java, adobe reader, and flash player. Then processed to XEAMS. Never encounter the problem as you have.

I just reimaged the test server with SBS2011 then download build 5776 from the link, and installed with no problem.

Better check your OS SBS2011, the problem is not XEAMS.

Just look for xeams torrent, there's build 5819 (it says 5825, but it's 5819d) available and it works flawlessly with new configuration, no DKIM though... Oh well..

If anyone have a newer working build, please make it available.

It's a linux64 build, use the downgrade procedure from here:

http://www.xeams.com/older-build.htm

The process is similar on linux

For the xeams torrent,there maybe virus there,headache,if so,maybe the server will be under hacker's control.

agreed

Using torrents from third party can be dangerous. Anyone can pack a virus/Trojan and distribute it

Lovely, but these are production servers - I can't "just install an SBS2011" and do whatever with it, I gotta stick to the one I have up and running. But I gladly take constructive suggestions regarding what to check on them.