And to upgrade to new version for perpetual license ( which comes out every 18 months now ??? ) you need only the latest version.. after this coming Dec 31.

I read your statement to mean that the upgrade might be free. So there's no confusion:

"In order to qualify for upgrade pricing when CS6 releases, customers will need to be on the latest version of our software (either CS5 or CS5.5 editions)."

Since I am at CS5, it won't affect me, but this would suggest to me that the only way for a CS3 or CS4 owner to upgrade, if they don't get to CS5 before 12/31, would be to buy at full price.

Something to note...the Adobe Creative Cloud includes EVERYTHING that is in the Master Collection (as stated by the OP link) so that means that for $600 per year, you've got....everything. The annual upgrade to just the Production Suite will run you about $600 - if you were to upgrade every time a new version comes out - and so I'd think for a lot of people, the cloud pricing would make a lot of sense, and change your software purchases from massive once-in-a-while, do-I-have-the-money-right-now decisions to a monthly plan (with no interest charges) and you will always be on the newest version of....everything.

Sounds like a pretty decent win-win. I have skipped 5.5, so I'm really only currently a bi-annual purchaser, so my costs will effectively double if I go with the cloud pricing. But, having it simply be a monthly charge makes the books a bit simpler for this small-time producer.

I actually prefer the $49/month plan if it is actually monthly...I don't mind making an annual commitment, but dropping $600 every single year is no different financially than what I currently do. Spacing out those payments would be nice for me, and I would think it would make Adobe's sales a little more consistent month-to-month. But finance isn't my specialty, so whatever it is, it is.

The main benefit with the new program will be that you get ALL of Adobe's current Master Collection software for the one price. I think a lot of people have failed to notice that part. You also get the mobile apps. In other words, for about the same price as just upgrading the Production Premium each year, you get EVERYTHING.

So you're one of these people who don't upgrade every single version? No problem...same here, I skipped CS5.5 and stuck with CS5 because it worked fine for me. Adobe is still going to be offering the traditional licensing, where you buy once and use it forever. I know the gripe there has to do with Adobe not continuing development on a version once the newest version is released, and that's unfortunate, but there's only so much a company can do. New versions do usually bring bug fixes that should have been there in the previous version, but they bring new functionality as well. It's a tradeoff, and it most severely impacts those customers that stick with an older version, so yes that's unfortunate, but those customers are not the majority of users out there, and Adobe cannot afford the resources and funds to support the minority of users as equally as the majority.

You've made some assumptions that I'm not sure are correct, so I'll add my own assumptions and see if we can't muddy this up a little further.

As for the monthly cost of using a single application such as Photoshop, I think Adobe will probably have pricing to accomodate that. Again, if we're all just drawing conclusions here, I'd assume that there will be a different price for people needing just one of the applications.

The BIG story, of course, is the whole "pay one low price, get everything!" headline. That's the big news, and lots of people are intrigued by that. The smaller, less interesting details are yet to come, but the big announcement is the complete Adobe experience of having EVERYTHING and having it perpetully upgraded so long as you maintain your account.

As for losing investments in previous apps, I'm really not sure what you mean at all. Anyone who currently owns Adobe software owns those licenses, they don't disappear just because there's another purchasing option available. Likewise, you can probably assume as well that you will never be FORCED to upgrade under the new subscription model just because a new version is AVAILABLE. If you are the kind of facility that has to lock down an edit machine and not touch it for a year or two or three after installation, then the subscription type plans are probably not for you, which is why Adobe will continue to offer those single seat one-time-fee license options. Still, it's not like Adobe is going to PUSH a new upgrade to your machine without you requesting it or approving it. I imagine it would work just like everything does now on a computer, where you get a prompt like "A new version of Photoshop is available (v6.061.05). Would you like to upgrade at this time?"

All this talk about being held ransom and not having a choice about when to spend your money...it is all very emotional but not very sensical.

Generally speaking, it makes no sense to continue stating that a user MUST upgrade to CS5.5, then CS6, etc. Again, when you purchase the license, you have it, so the only "force" that would make you upgrade again is your own decision-making like "do I need these new features...or not?" It is beyond my understanding why people have to act like continuing to work on a piece of software and charging for those ongoing developments is some sort of crime.

As for the pricing as it relates to currency conversion, that problem is not even remotely in Adobe's hands, so if you are trying to make it out like that's Adobe's problem, then you've got no foot to stand on. Adobe is a United States corporation, headquartered in California (one of the 50 current states in the union) and so all of their pricing and advertising and everything else starts in American dollars. Once it gets converted into the local currency of the UK (or Botswana, or Thailand or Nigeria), there are a lot of other things at play such as VAT and shipping costs (in the case where a physical product is being purhcased).

I wish you the best of luck in determining your required future upgrade paths as they pertain to your particular business or hobby. I just think you are taking issue with something that has not yet even been fully laid out, nor has it been implemented, nor is it a "forced" policy. For many users, their purchasing choices will remain unchanged. For other users, there are now new options that better fit the way they'd prefer to spend their software dollar. As I said, good luck determining which is best for you.

If people don't need anything beyond Photoshop CS4 (or unless someone else develops and actual worthwhile competitor to Photoshop) then they don't need to upgrade anyway. It's not really a position that Adobe should be concerned about. People who are using the software frequently to make money are going to be able to justify the pricing one way or the other. If the last version they purchased was CS4, then they have gotten (or will have gotten, by next April) about 4 years of use out of their software. If they paid full price in 2008, then that averages about $250 a year (which is probably a lot less than they get paid for a single production in many cases). If they upgraded in 2008, then their cost ends up being more like $100 per year.

If a user is on one of the Creative suite packages, then their costs are spread out even more, and their per year costs per application are much less, even if they only use 2 or 3 of the apps in the Creative Suite.

I can appreciate the considerate wording from the NAPP president, which is exactly how these sorts of appeals ought to be made. But I think he is either grossly exaggerating or completely misjudging when he states that he fears many CS4 users will never upgrade Photoshop again.

And for the record, Adobe's prices have continued to drop steadily over the last 10 years, so anyone who upgrades only every 3 or 4 years has benefitted regardless. I just think it's much ado about nothing, especially when you consider - as the NAPP president stated - that we don't really even know the full details on Adobe's upgrade policy yet.

I don't agree with the "give us some notice" argument because Adobe has already given at LEAST 6 months notice (which is half of the product cycle) so yes, the people who might benefit the most would be folks that bought CS5.5 on the day it was announced, but they only benefitted by 6 months at the most versus those that choose to upgrade today.

Adobe has done a better job than they get credit for when it comes to giving advance notice of pricing and policy changes. I just get tired (have you noticed?) of the arguing and bickering when Adobe has contined to listen to customers and provide products we all need at prices that are NOT outrageous. Adobe is a big company, and really doesn't need little ol' me defending them, but I think I owe them a bit of my time and effort typing these defenses after the superb job they've done for the last however many years.

I have also had occasional Internet problems (telco has determined it is their "backbone" feed line problem, and street in front of my house now has a bunch of lines and cryptic markings... and we received a postcard that "someday soon" they are going to dig a trench in the street to lay a new master feed line) so would NEVER buy software that required an Internet connection to run

Of course, CS5 completely meets my needs, and as a home hobbyist with NO plans to buy a new camera (Canon Vixia HFS100 does everything I need) I see no need to buy new software... CS5.5 doesn't offer anything **I** need, and I doubt CS6 will either

People who just purchased that $800 upgrade for the master collection get to use that effectively forever with not another time dropped. In 16 months, they will be able to upgrade to CS6 if they want, and have been no worse for the wear. Likewise, I would assume that most people who just now purchased CS5.5 would NOT be upgrading for another $800 in 6 months anyway (when CS6 comes out) so the whole discussion on that matter really falls apart. But even if they DID upgrade, it would cost them $800+$800 over the next 16 months as opposed to $800+$500 under the new plan. That's a savings of $300 in your scenario.

And I think there is some misunderstanding about the cloud aspect of all this. The cloud is referring to the fact that the applications will all be downloads under that licensing plan. It's not like you'll be editing in a web-based app. You will still download the software to your machine and it won't just suddenly quit on you as soon as you lose your internet connection.

There are some web-based apps and likely there still will be some, but that's not how the main apps will work, probably not ever, or at least many many years from now (like Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere, etc). So let's just get that misunderstanding out of the way.

this is such a can of worms I certainly hope adobe does a test market of this before making it a done deal.. which could be done while ( as asked for in the letter to adobe from that photoshop guy Hunt posted ) giving people more notice about plans to go this route.

I for one dont for a second think some problems WONT arise from not having an internet connection ( especially for pros working on location this would be a nightmare .. more than that it would probably get you fired and never work again in film production )... it could be some billing debacle ( license thing ) or simply some "handshake" thing to guarantee you are in fact licensed to use product -- instead of some pirate ....

its bad enough having help files online instead of on hard drive... this whole new thing, in such a short time, scares the heck out of any pro..

and here's why mostly.. if something "goes wrong" and you cant " work" ....if the program isnt working ....or something is just plain not working ....adding yet another "variable" to troubleshoot is a nightmare....

for whatever reason.

not only that...but in terms of the long haul and adobe employees... think about all those who will get laid off in the billing and marketing departments etc as this becomes more and more " automated "... less employees means less " support " for each other to maintain a decent retirement and healthcare insurance " pool ".  At first it's like, " Oh, this is OK, it doesnt effect ME ".. and years later it's like, " Oh, you mean there's no more retirement plan, health insurance, employee discount ??? "

None of this makes sense to me.

Christian, thank you. I am so relieved there is no need for an internet connection for all this to work out to benefit everyone. Those pro houses who dont have internet connections and who have historically not used premiere pro editing program will probably consider this new option and increase adobe's market share of the pro world.

thanks !