I know that in the past, a .5 update has come with a charge and I’m normally okay with that. But in the case of Cubase 7, I feel that Steinberg should offer it for free for current Cubase 7 owners, since version 7 has been full of problems, crashes, a new Mix Console that came with multiple graphics issues, etc.
The release of Cubase 7 before they had all those problems fixed lowered my confidence level considerably in Stienberg to keep me working, trouble free.
They could go a long way to restoring that confidence by offering it for free and (most importantly) further strengthening the stability of this product that I’ve always been able to rely upon until this last release.