Zend Optimiser and Zend Guard Question

[DanielCoe]

Hi,

I understand that Zend Optimiser is freeware and can be downloaded and used by anybody - but is it true that you have to first purchase Zend Guard or a Zend encoder in order to be able to use Zend Optimiser?

Just seems strange to offer Optimiser for free if you can't use it as you need to spend $999 on a compiler first?

Thanks

Dan