Reading this thread finds false information.

Lightroom 6, the stand alone version, will run fine for a long time. The only thing that stops at the end of the year is the routine ACR updates. That means if you buy a 2018 newly released Nikon and shoot RAW, you will have to do a simple workaround for you files, upgrade to a newer Adobe product (even Photoshop Elements) or switch to another brand. Everything else in Lightroom will function just like it has been.

Adobe did some confusing renaming. The Lightroom 2015 CC that is part of the subscription at $10 a month has a new name, "Lightroom Classic". It continues as the "flagship" and was released with a couple new cool tools and increased speed. If you have been on the $10 plan, the change over is a no brainer.

As always, the flagship Lightroom Classic is installed on your computer and all your image files are in folders on your local drives. If you quit your subscription, the only thing that stops is the Develop module. You still have all your photos and all your work. You can even "Export" your previously "developed" RAW images to JPEGs, TIFFs, or whatever. Your files and the software are on your computer under your control and management.

Brand new is the "new" Lightroom CC. It is an enhancement of the mobile process that has been growing within the $10 per month plan. It is added to and included with the $10 plan. It is an option, not a requirement. It provides for NOT keeping your image files on your computer and instead, on Adobe's servers or "cloud". The advantage is that you can work with your photos anywhere there is an internet connection and you have any device like phone, tablet or computer. It is in version 1 and will grow new features. It may or may not ever get all the features that are in Lightroom Classic. I suspect it will grow features based on what "mobile" customers ask for.

Reading this thread finds false information.

Lightroom 6, the stand alone version, will run fine for a long time. The only thing that stops at the end of the year is the routine ACR updates. That means if you buy a 2018 newly released Nikon and shoot RAW, you will have to do a simple workaround for you files, upgrade to a newer Adobe product (even Photoshop Elements) or switch to another brand. Everything else in Lightroom will function just like it has been.

Adobe did some confusing renaming. The Lightroom 2015 CC that is part of the subscription at $10 a month has a new name, "Lightroom Classic". It continues as the "flagship" and was released with a couple new cool tools and increased speed. If you have been on the $10 plan, the change over is a no brainer.

As always, the flagship Lightroom Classic is installed on your computer and all your image files are in folders on your local drives. If you quit your subscription, the only thing that stops is the Develop module. You still have all your photos and all your work. You can even "Export" your previously "developed" RAW images to JPEGs, TIFFs, or whatever. Your files and the software are on your computer under your control and management.

Brand new is the "new" Lightroom CC. It is an enhancement of the mobile process that has been growing within the $10 per month plan. It is added to and included with the $10 plan. It is an option, not a requirement. It provides for NOT keeping your image files on your computer and instead, on Adobe's servers or "cloud". The advantage is that you can work with your photos anywhere there is an internet connection and you have any device like phone, tablet or computer. It is in version 1 and will grow new features. It may or may not ever get all the features that are in Lightroom Classic. I suspect it will grow features based on what "mobile" customers ask for.

FYI https://www.dpreview.com/articles/3538565258/adobe-lightroom-allows-users-continued-access-after-license-expires

As for transferring photos - Lightroom does not store your photos in the catalog, the Lightroom catalog is simply a database that contains metadata about your photos, where they are located on your disk and what edits you have done to them.

If you are worried about losing your edits stored in the catalog you can activate the write XMP data automatically and as edits occur Lightroom will automatically write the edits to the image files, in the event of raw files it will create "sidecar files" that contain the metadata edits, as well as a copy of them in the catalog. You can also write the XMP data on demand at any time from the menus or thru keyboard shortcuts.

Access to your images thru the catalog is never blocked after a subscription ending, instead, the Develop module ceases to be an option for you, preventing new edits, so you can still use Lightroom to export your images with existing edits.

Your images remain on your disk in whatever folder structure you set them up in, so the images are always available to pretty much any editing software.

If you make use of raw with sidecar files, deleting the sidecar file will reset the image file back to the original raw.

First of all thank you OP and all for a very civil and informative discussion. Too often by page 5 these boards usually have degraded into anarchy. Much applause to the OP! That said I am on the fence about whether or not switch. I have LR6 and have been using LR for nine years since LR2. As an amateur I have no need for full blown Photoshop but have upgraded Elements when I needed to. I have downloaded Capture One, ON1 Raw 2018, and Corel Pro and all have good points and bad points. At 66, I will soon be on a fixed income so I do not really need anymore monthly bills. On the other hand I am quite adept on Lightroom and have substantial investment in that learning. I think for now I will just wait and see what enfolds. I have downloaded Adobe's DNG converter in case I am able to purchase a new camera. I will probably stick with LR6 until something significant changes.