2 Replies Latest reply: Jun 2, 2013 5:37 AM by LJH RSS

    Reverse Compatibility and some positives

    LJH Community Member

      At a purely personal level, I applaud Adobe for taking this step toward a subscription based model.  The archaic days of delivering SW in a box, on discs, is over and it needed a major commercial concern, such as Adobe, to take the first steps. Well done indeed, I’m sure many others will follow if this is a success. Also having access to the most up-to-date software at all times is an absolute necessity in today’s competitive environment. I've made the move and now subscribe.

       

      I do believe that the membership pricing mechanism needs some serious re-engineering. Excuse my cynicism but at the moment it looks like something drawn up by two blokes in a pub on the back of a *** packet. Woefully unsuitable for a delivery change of this magnitude. Indeed this is the major concern of just about everyone contributing to this forum.

       

      The above comments are rhetorical but I have two addressable concerns if I may:

       

      1. Has any thought been given to future [backward] compatibility? For example I may have developed a design for a major Client which he accepted and has been using same for a few years. He’s now come back to me for an adjustment to be made. As Adobe now maintains a dynamic update model, will the current SW be compatible with the older format. If not this could cause serious Client relationship issues moving forward.
      2. As implied in my first paragraph, having access to the most up to date SW is a great idea, however there are still many folks in areas where WEB access is not that great and to download > 1GB files at any one time would be well-nigh impossible, due to connection issues and/or very slow transfer speeds. I’m sure Adobe do not wish to isolate these people under the new model but what contingency plans are in place to handle this scenario ?

       

      Thanks

        • 1. Re: Reverse Compatibility and some positives
          Mylenium CommunityMVP

          1.) Should be a non-issue - all current versions will remain available for at least 5 versions to come, so in 2017 you should still be able to install and use CS6 in the cloud. The rest is not really relevant - whether or not the file formats will be compatible is only something the engineers can work on on a version-by-version basis and gauging how much effort it will take to maintain legacy compatibility beyond going one version back. Still, if you have access to the older versions, tip-toeing your way up to the latest version and re-saving updated files would be possible. The points in 2.) have been raised a couple of times and I'm sure Adobe will provide some form of offline install, possibly via the Enterprise Deployment channels/ Developer Center, but there's no definitive info yet.

           

          Mylenium

          • 2. Re: Reverse Compatibility and some positives
            LJH Community Member

            Thanks Mylenium. Hadn't realised that older copies of the App can be retained and stacked along with the newest.