Patent ID: 7884961

Claim:
An image forming apparatus forming an image on a sheet supplied, comprising: a processor; program storing means, coupled to the processor, for storing an application including an optional routine; and control panel means, coupled to the processor, having instruction inputting means and display means, wherein the image forming apparatus further comprising: trial start information inputting means; and a trial information storing means, coupled to the processor, for storing trial limitation information indicating trial state information and either a trial permission period or a trial permission number, wherein the application orders the processor to perform the steps of: (a) determining whether the trial start information is input; (b) executing the optional routine according to an instruction from the instruction inputting means if the determination at the step (a) is positive and the trial state information does not indicate “trialed”; and (c) determining whether an attempted trial exceeds the limitation indicated by the trial limitation information, and if the determination is positive, having the trial state information indicate “trialed”.