Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

Technically, you do not own that software. You bought a perpetual license to use that software as long as you would like. But the software is actually leased AS IS with zero commitment to update, maintain or otherwise support it. Adobe has moved on with a subscription model which is a consumer oriented version of the terms under which industrial strength software has been leased for decades. It is the way it is.

Personally, after initial reluctance to change I like it much better. It keeps me up to the latest state of the art in post processing without “should I or not” decisions at a reasonable price. Look! My cable TV/Internet “service” costs 20 times that with disappointing performance and hostile customer support. It makes me angry talking about it. I hear Adobe’s support is excellent but I have never needed it. And I get Lightroom Classic, which I depend upon to manage my images and Photoshop which was too expensive to try along with Bridge and mobile versions of Lr which I have never tried. But mainly NO GRIEF which is important to a 80+ year old geezer.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

When you buy PSE, you get somewhat the same issue as the old standalone LR. The RAW files / cameras the PSE supports is limited to those that existed through the end of support, about 1-calendar year after release. So, it will support any camera you own when you buy the software. The ACR inside that PSE version can be updated via download for support of cameras released that year. But, when the software changes to the new version, your current version is frozen.

I still operate PSE-11 (circa 2011) and LR6. I haven't updated my cameras since 2014 so these software work with my RAW files, although I don't use PSE-11 very much for photo editing, instead almost 100% in LR6.

franburst - as an LR5 user, note a few differences specific to PSE. The Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) is very crude when compared to the rich set of tools in LR, although both tools are essentially the same functionality for editing RAW. But, once you move into PSE, much of the 'power' of this flavor of PhotoShop is the layer-based tools, and all these layer-based tools operate at 8-bit. That means you lose the rich bit-depth of RAW (12- or 14-bit from the camera) or 16-bit when converted to TIFF. You retain the high bit-depth if you stay out of the layer-based tools, but that kind of defeats the purpose of buying PSE instead of some other software.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Give up on that fantasy. Just subscribe.

There is no commercial software that you “buy.” There never has been. Read the EULA — End User License Agreement.

Software is only licensed. You used to get a disc, but the contents were just licensed to you. The same is true whether you license a one-time, one version download or an ongoing download subscription.

There is nothing “forever” about software. It is constantly evolving with changes in computer hardware, operating systems, needs, and user feedback. The useful life of a single version is 3-6 years. After that, it is likely to be incompatible with new hardware or a new operating system.

That is the case with Lightroom 6.14, the last non-subscription edition. It is no longer supported by Adobe and either will not install, won’t run, or runs erratically on current computers.

DrAW45 Loc: Maumee Ohio

I understand that - but going to continue using what works and forgo the new features of the newest software. Thanks!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

That's now only an Apple feature that Windows has resolved ...

mbruschi Loc: Delaware

I have the same question about the old Lightroom (which I still am able to use)

On my iphone, I recently was able to get Lightroom for free, but only on iphone. I saw something from Lightroom about registering and downloading Lightroom. They don't mention a fee and I was concerned about messing up the old Lightroom I currently have.

Has anyone downloaded a Lightroom version and not paid a monthly fee?

dmagett Loc: Albuquerque NM/Sedona AZ

I disagree.I have a program that came with Windows 3.1 (Print Artist) that I still use today.It will run on a 32 bit windows. I use Oracle's Virtual Box, run a Windows XP system, use the system configured with only that program and a print driver. Works fine. Up until Windows 10 came, I ran it on Windows 7 (32 bit)

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

As noted by others, perpetual licenses have their limitations. The current trend is subscription, which is good for the software company because it provides a forecastable income stream, necessary if they are to keep development going. It is also good for the user because (s)he always has the current version available.

I would note that any hobby worth its salt requires expenditures. How much did you spend on your camera and lenses? Your computer? Why do you think software should be forever?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Hey, people will buy $40,000 cars and ignore the maintenance schedules. People will buy a $5.00 cup of coffee several times a week and not have a $20 coffee maker at home. People spend $10 on lunch instead of $10/month on a bundle of four of the best major software programs for photographers. Heck, a half decent bottle of wine is $15 these days.

Logic is apparently whimsical and fickle.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

When you subscribe to a news paper, they update it every day, other wise it would be of little use. I agree with dirtfarmer, if you are serious about owning an expensive camera, why quibble about an important final step such as postprocessing ? It is a hobby for me, but I tend to seriously come up with something worthwhile

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The Lightroom Classic application is indispensable for me. It does things the old static version never could do.

That said, if you're on a tight budget, grab a copy of Affinity Photo. It's not an image database like Lightroom. It's more like Photoshop. But it is a good tool. As others said earlier, camera manufacturers often provide downloads of software that works with their cameras. It's ALWAYS worth trying, ESPECIALLY for raw conversions, since the camera manufacturers KNOW their own color science!

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

You can not buy lightroom. It's is only available on a monthly basis. There are other Adobe programs you can but as stand alone, as well as other programs.

Any program you buy will not last forever. They will all die of old age, some sooner than others.

fantom Loc: Colorado

Right on. They are definitely worth the money considering you are always getting state of the art updates at very a reasonable price.

Mileagemaker Loc: Jackson NJ

For those that want to buy software out right. Nikon has software that downloads raw and it is free. ACDSEE has a software that downloads raw. The cost is about $29.00. Adobe Elements will download raw and the cost is $99.00 or $79.00 on sale.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

I migrated from LR6 (owned) to LRC (monthly fee). I like the newer version--it has some improvements in making panoramas that are very nice.