As others have stated, this is not the way it works.

I bought the software the way you describe at Micro Center. When you buy this way, you are paying for the first year's subscription. The year starts when you install the software, not when you purchase the product cards. You then do not make any more payments until the end of that year approaches, when you can either pay for the next year or provide credit card information for monthly payments. You do not make an upfront payment plus monthly payments. Either way, though, you are paying in advance, whether for a year or for each month in that year. At this point, I still have not provided any credit card information for next year's subscription, and have not paid one additional penny for the license. I will have to do so in June, however, when this year's subscription expires.

And the amount I paid was exactly the same as it would have cost if I had gone online and initiated the subscription. I purchased a product card because we have been victims of financial fraud in the recent past, and have no interest in Adobe or anyone else having our credit card information on file. Too many "reputable" companies have promised to hold customer information safe and then failed to do so. Renewal will most likely be paid using a prepaid card of some sort.

I have been shooting in jpeg format and wanting to switch over to raw. Question is what editting program do I use if I don't want to pay a fee every month to use plus the initial cost. I find this quite annoying. We pay for a program then have to make a monthly payment just to use something already paid for so that we can get updates once every few months. The amount we have to pay for a program the updates should be free. Now that I am done bitching what's the best program for a Canon shooter that uses a Imac computer and Pixma pro 100 for my printing.