mldavis2

Whether it is a "better deal" than a pay-once boxed version is a matter of debate. Do the math and you'll see that paying $9.99 a month costs $120 a year every year forever as long as you want to use the program. Quit paying and the program deactivates. Since boxed updates came out in 16-25 month intervals, $10/month is no bargain unless you can't afford to buy it up front (CS5 is dated 4-'10 and CS6 is dated 5-'12 on my machine for example). I'm taking bets on how long that $10/month will last once Adobe has milked the very last die-hard out of their former user list.

In addition, see my Topic post on Adobe CC2014 plug-ins regarding the re-coding of the Adobe menu system which renders any after market plug-ins that use the Flash Panel coding from pre-CC2014 versions useless. As a new subscriber, that may not be an issue, but if you plan to purchase any new plug-ins for CC2014 you'd better make sure they will work with CC2014.

There are at least two sides to every story. Caveat emptor.

CS6 is a great product, runs flawlessly on my big desktop computer, no bugs, no memory issues, so what they have "improved" with "faster processing" and "better memory management" is puzzling. More smoke and mirrors from Adobe, no doubt.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

As a former user of CS6 and current user of CC2014, I can say, without hesitation or bias, that CC2014 is better and a more complete program. There will always be diehards like yourself who will reject anything new "just because." However, with over 2.3 million subscribers, diehards are clearly in the minority, and the majority of the users of Adobe products are thoroughly enjoying the benefits.

You do take extremely good images - so you are clearly not a dilettante spouting garbage. But your credibility goes down the toilet when you offer opinions on products you have no first hand knowledge of. I would be more inclined to take you seriously if you can say in all honestly that you tried CC2014 for a month and found no benefit whatsoever over CS6.

The danger in your approach is in becoming an "orphan" when support for CS6 goes away completely, especially with ACR updates. It is a story that often repeats itself - I used to have clients that were still using Lotus 1-2-3 and either Worstar, Multimate or WordPerfect word processing, until their Okidata ML 93 or Nec Spinriter finally gave up the ghost - years after all these companies either went away or just stopped supporting their legacy products.

When it comes to technology, the most conservative strategy is to avoid cutting edge (bleeding edge) purchases, and wait until the nonsense is worked out and a product is stabilized. And on the other end, avoid getting left behind with useless junk.

I waited 8 months before subscribing, waiting until Adobe built enough new benefit into Photoshop, and they fixed their pricing model to better support a long-term strategy. They did both, I subscribed. It has so far proven more than worthwhile. I was able to move all of my plugins - some that I have been using since CS3 - OnOne, DXO, Nik, Topaz, Helicon Focus, Photomatix, Portrait Professional, Focus Magic, Lucis Art, various Alien Skin plugins, Photokit Sharpener, etc etc etc by merely moving them to their respective locations in the plugin folders. No big deal. On the off chance that you are still using a flash-based plugin for which there is no alternative you are going to be stuck using an earlier version. But for the majority of users, CC2014 has not been a negative experience, nor has CC on the whole been negative.

In fact, the only whiners are those who have not tried it. I have yet to hear of someone who has tried CC and decided it wasn't for them and has reverted to an earlier version. That is something to consider.

Here is a somewhat comical article that summarizes the position of the CC "haters" which I suspect you will fully connect with. Remember it is to the rest of us, humorous.

http://photofocus.com/2013/05/08/10-reasons-the-haters-are-mad-about-adobe-creative-cloud/

Haydon

I'm using CS6 & Lightroom 5.6 so no subscription costs at all. It's sheer marketing genius from Adobe coming up with CC. Two million subscribers at $10 equals 20 million dollars a month.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

More profit, some of which goes to shareholders the rest into innovation to help them maintain their market dominance - a win-win.

mldavis2

Nice link, @Gene51. However absolutely nothing in that list of 10 applies to me or what I've said here. Go back and read my previous posts - all of them - regarding what I've said about CC and you'll find no untruths.

I have never said CC2014 is not a better product than CS6. I reject the subscription model, not the software, and if I must subscribe to get CC, I will "move on" as the article says. It is proven psychology that once a person rationalizes a new purchase (or a new rental), they subsequently rationalize the reasons for making that decision - unless it totally falls apart.

My posts have been intended as a heads-up or warning to potential new users of never-ending price increases, deactivation risks, and total costs over time.

There are some interesting trends in Adobe Photoshop upgrades, as the intervals between new versions was steadily increasing. CS3 came out in Mar '07, CS4 in Sept '08, CS5 in Apr '10 and CS6 in May '12. Notice anything there about increasing intervals? It tells me that Adobe was having trouble accumulating sufficient new "features" to justify (to owners) a new version as the times increased. Turn out a new version with minimal new features and buyers are tempted to skip versions (CS2), which was becoming a real issue which Adobe attempted to stop by limiting how many "back versions" they would honor for upgrades.

That didn't work, and too many users were not seeing significant improvements and Adobe's product sales (upgrades) were dropping. In the past, one could evaluate the new version first and decide if it was worth the $169 upgrade price. Now, as the real (effective) interval is no longer a burden for Adobe, they have you paying more up front, spread over time to disguise the real cost, and they have eliminated the burden of having to re-prove their product to knowledgeable owners before you decide to pay for it. You're paying for it whether you like it or not.

I'm glad all your 3rd party software works in CC. My favorite Curvemeister does not, and Mike Russell is not happy about trying to re-code such a complex plug-in in html, so it's not likely to happen.

How about the article?

1) I understand it and have used it on a friend's computer. It's a minimal upgrade to CS6. What's not to understand?
2) I have never said any version was worthless
3) Yes, Adobe is greedy - CS2 was not a good version and was very short-lived before CS3 came out. Giving it away is not very generous for an 8-year old product.
4) I never talked about the value of the $50/month deal. I never use or need all the other commercial junk - I'm a photographer, not a commercial graphics designer.
5) I've never mentioned an "upgrade path" except above for boxed versions. Subscription is not an upgrade, it's a subscription, available to anyone.
6) Price increases are a part of life and are virtually guaranteed to affect the "permanent" subscription fees.
7) I've never warned about not being able to use PSD files - unless the files contain features available only in CC in which case you can't open them with all the edits in earlier versions which wouldn't understand the commands. Who saves files like that other than Bert Monroy? But then he gets free copies, I'm sure.
8) Yes, Adobe is running out of new features in a mature product. The upgrade version timing is listed above and shows a clear trend. When the feature is already paid for up front, what's the rush and where is the incentive?
9) Not applicable. I don't use LR and have acknowledged that it is available boxed - so far.
10) I have never, ever, pirated a copy of any software, so that is a non-issue.

So much for the humorous 10 reasons. The only thing I reject totally and completely is subscription software, and yes, when CS6 no longer does what I need, I'll move on to something better. But you can bet I won't rent it, whatever it turns out to be. It's the principle of pay-forever software, @Gene51, not the product, that I reject. If you really need the new "features" in CC, then pay forever and enjoy. Use what you like and like what you use. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

stan0301 Loc: Colorado

You may have plugins that you can't get a new copy of--so going back to 6 or even 5 is better than not having it at all--if you don't, I can't think of a reason--other than if you quit paying on CC they will disable it.
Stan

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You're right. :)

Ronald J Loc: Minneapolis MN.

Somewhat related. I have Photoshop Elements 9 and have been looking to upgrade. I also want to get into HDR and realize I need ether CC or maybe CS5(I think). Can I achieve the same thing by buying Photoshop and then buying the NIK package($149). I ask this because of my concerns with privacy of CC and any rights I may give up.
My conversation with Adobe has not helped. By the time my ear got adjusted to the Indian accent, I missed half of what the person was saying. Thanks for the help.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

You don't have to download them if you don't want them. The cloud is free, the Lightroom Photoshop package is $9.99. If you don't want Photoshop, or you don't want lightroom, it is still 9.99 unless you opt for the single software package. The single App price is $19.99 a month so why would you pay for Photoshop at 19.99 when you can get it and Lightroom for 9.99? It's your choice. Now if you want everything it is $49.99 per month. That doesn't mean you have to install everything, it just means you have access to it all. You install and use what you want.

https://creative.adobe.com/plans

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Photoshop CC has an HDR app built in and you can combine multiple images and it will line up the outlines to make one image.. It works pretty good. I took 5 shots of a building with cars at a stoplight, it threw out the movement and kept the cars stopped at the light but combined all 5 images and came out pretty good. It wasn't bad for a 1st effort.

Ronald J Loc: Minneapolis MN.

Thanks for the timely response. What I still need to know is whether if I buy Photoshop, will that allow me to do HDR after buying NIK. My concerns with CC remain. Thanks.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

CC is the latest edition of Photoshop and it is a full version (just like a stand alone boxed version).

Thombar Loc: Hominy, OK

These opinions of the PS systems is somewhat overwhelming to us newbies. I wish there were a way to consolidate everything that is being said and come down to a final, buy this version or that version. I can't so I'm going to be content with PS CC subscription and just consider it a cost of playing with photographs for my own amusement and satisfaction.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Great article. I have the entire package for $50.00 a month. I have to say, I really enjoy it and I use the tutorials to learn what and how they do what they do. It's sort of a hobby.

srfotog Loc: Northeast Pennsylvania

Last year when CC came out with Lightroom 5, I got the photographer's edition and it costs me $19.95 a month plus tax=$21.19/month. You might want to check and see if you are getting the photographer's edition, because that sounds like too good a deal. I hope you do, though.