I think we will either see CC a great success, or we will see a standard CS7 offered in a month or so. This just may end up being the biggest corporate stumble of 2013, and some top exec will lose their job over this. Is it ever a smart idea to piss off so many long time paying customers?

Personally I think Adobe has already calculated in that they will lose customers. Economic wise this is a smart decision, as they are now assured of a certain stable membership platform. Since CS5 came out, lesser people have updated, because of costs, no need and such. That, and the declining satisfaction and distrust, especially outside the US, where they ask up to 60% more for the same software, have transformed a well-liked company into a arrogant big brother.

Membership and/or subscription is coming for more and more things, as the current crisis and the fully saturated market are a big thorn in the sides of a lot of companies.

What will happen in my humble opinion; after one year, Adobe will declare CC a big success, most other people will continue to work with CS6, the piracy will grow substantially, and several other companies, like Corel, Quark en perhaps some others, will get some new clients.

Nothing we will do or say, will change the mind of Adobe, as long as the EU (for instance) will not warn them for monopolizing the market and forcing clients to use their subscription system.

I do think that Adobe can get more subscribers if they: allow clients to choose their own apps (just like the Standard, Web packages and so on) for a reasonable price, not 80 Dollars like it is in NL; and most important, after a minimum of two years give customers the option to stop the subscription, BUT let them keep the APPS, so they can continue to work with them.

Actually, I can see that there will be a few legal challenges to this as well, so Adobe must have taken that into account also. I should imagine that they have various scenarios mapped out if they have been sensible, I mean, they will have been sensible won't they?

Another must read for people found in a recent previous thread;

Adobe Creative Cloud:  Lopsided Legal Agreement. It is not pretty:

http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2013/20130508_1a-Adobe-legal-agree ment.html

Everyone should see this as a problem.

I have files I go back to from time to time and open them in old applications.

Sometimes applications I haven't used in years.

Adobe is now saying to everyone, who participates in this outrageous abomination of continuous rental fees, that your old files will be useless to you the moment you stop subscribing.

Adobe....Are you guys f#$cking kidding me?

I fully agree with the entire discussion.

Adobe is in fact creating a situation where they can keep our work hostage.

Eventually the difference in file formats between CS6 and CC will be so big there's no point in trying to get them "across" anymore.

At that point their will be a couple possible scenario's when 2 parties need to work together where only one party has a CC subscription:

- Either the other one gets a subscription as well

- They migrate to different software

I have to admit that I jumped on the CC bandwagon initially just because it is very nice to have all the adobe products handy, but reading this discussion I think I will cancel the subscription as soon as my discount is up.

A small note though: Since you are free to cancel the subscription at any time, you could just sign up for a month again when you encounter files you can't access anymore.

It's a broken way to get things done, but in the end you get to your data which is the point. And you make Adobe happy again because you spent more money.

I think these SaaS in the long run are doomed if they don't create something with a perpetual license to fall back on for people not wanting this.

Adobe has abruptly lost my brand loyalty because of this subscription policy. If I was getting my first software I would never buy into a subscription. Other designers I've spoken to feel the same. I'm stuck for now due to work but I'm not going to continue with subscription costs for casual or occasional use. Everything I'll want to keep, I'll have to limit to CS6 or the files will be held hostage to yearly subscription fees. I'll now I have to look around for other options.

I subscribed to CC for the first year at the discounted rate and can't afford the continued subscription any longer. Now the only way to use the files in my copy of CS6 Master Collection is to open every file that I have created or edited in the past year and save it back into CS6 before cancelling my subscription. This is serving to be a very time consuming task as I use Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Premiere, Flash and After Effects.

Without doing this I won't have full function on Illustrator Artboards (which are native in CS6, not sure why it's not supported), Indesign Files (well those are just impossible), Photoshop seems to be the only things that doesn't completely screw up the file structure when a CC file is opened in CS6, who really know what the Premiere projects will do or any of the others for that matter once I actually cancel my subscription. I have tried to open many files that ERROR with "The file is damaged" when I try to open in in CS6 before back saving.

Only subscribe to CC if you plan on ALWAYS maintaining your subscription otherwise you WILL lose functions and full file access. If you do not have any previous licensed copy of the Adobe software you will lose editing access to your files period.

Hi Fluid,

It definitely doesn't work always or perfectly, and some apps are more backwards compatible than others, but did you try the techniques outlined in this guide?

Can You Open/Use/Export/Save Adobe CC Files on CS6 – and Vice Versa?

We hope that Adobe will provide a long-term solution that allows continued opening of CC-created files under any circumstances, perhaps via read-only versions of the CC apps (similar to how Microsoft is now doing it with Office).

I refuse to get locked into a utility bill from Adobe for the reset of my life to access my creative work.

All one has to do is look at the price of cable now days compared to some years ago - Adobe's fees will continue to escalate without conscious, because they have CC users by the throat.

My solution (I'm a professional fashion photographer formally using primarily Lightroom and Photoshop), was to stop using Adobe products for which there is a viable option. So, I dropped Lightroom in favor of Capture One Pro (which is a best-of-breed alternative).

I'm still using Photoshop CS5 and will continue to use it until a non-Adobe best-of-breed option comes along.

I've lost all faith in Adobe for fairness or any good faith conduct.

Shame on you Adobe.