Adobe kills Creative Suite, goes subscription-only!

reply to post by AnonyWarp

reply to post by opethPA


Yes I used Warp briefly in the early 90s--but I didnt inhale!

reply to post by cartenz


No. You buy the "cloud" subscription, get a installer and get the full CS installed on your HD. You don't need an internet connection to run it.

I'm using that at work and it works fine.

reply to post by krzyspmac


If it doesnt require internet to run then is it really a "cloud" application?

Meh what do I care I dont work in that industry anymore...

Originally posted by cartenz
Ummm, I think the way it works is you access it in the browser like most cloud apps. Buying the subscription would let you access the site hosting the app.

From Adobe's page 5 Myths About Adobe Creative Cloud:

#1 “I don’t want to run my Applications in a web browser!”

When people hear “cloud” they get visions of running applications in a web browser. While that may be the case with other cloud offerings, it’s not the case with Creative Cloud. Creative Cloud members download and install their Apps as Adobe customers always have. The Apps like Photoshop , Illustrator, InDesign and even the new app Muse runs from your Hard Drive, not from the cloud.

#2 ” I don’t want to have to be connected to the internet just to use Photoshop.”

Once we get past the fact that you download the Apps and install them on your hard drive, people still sometimes think that they need to be connected to the internet to actually run the Apps because they are Creative Cloud Apps. Again, this is not true. Your Apps not only install on your hard drive, but they also can very much run offline. You computer does have to connect to the internet once a month to verify that your membership is still current, but that’s it. Once that check has happened you can disconnect and run all of your Creative Cloud apps OFF-line.

It looks like they just use the word "cloud" because everyone is doing it.

Still sporting CS3 just fine. Haven't seen anything worthwhile software improvements to necessitate a $1,000+ purchase of new software.

Just because consumers are not wanting to dish out $1,000 each year for minimal increments in software improvement does not mean they need to switch their business model to subscription based software. The idea that consumers NEED and are WILLING to buy year after year is the same mindset that is infecting the mindset of businesses towards PC's & tablets. Tablets are a new technology that is seeing rapid improvements with each iteration, whereas a PC has minimal incremental improvements each iteration and thus is not worth it for consumers to re-purchase a PC each year. Consumerists see tablets being bought up like crazy and assume PC's are flat out DEAD and tablets are the future. This is a hugely false assumption based upon short-term data and not long-term outlook.

Back on point,
Realistically this solution/business model Adobe is perusing only brings limited benefits for consumers and countless benefits for Adobe. Adobe now gets to potentially install a DRM service on your computer, Adobe gets data on all consumers actions within each program (BIG data down to product minutia. Every click, every file opened etc will all be logged), Adobe now has an effective method for preventing software piracy and illegitimate re-use of products, ETC the list goes on very long.

This is all $$$ for them, and nothing for the consumers.

reply to post by cartenz


Thanks for the link to CS2. I had that before and it had tools jasc psp did not have. Wow it also gives you the serials too.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I'm not a fan of this at all. Granted, it's a nice option for those who cannot afford the CS suite. However, for those of us who can, this ends up just being a very expensive "lease". And the fact that Adobe is making this the *ONLY* choice available really bothers me. So bad indeed I will have to start looking elsewhere for a "Photoshop killer". (I highly doubt this exists, but we'll see.)

After more than a decade...and being a fan since Photoshop 5...I must take my leave at this point. I guess being the industry standard isn't enough. Gotta fill those coffers to overflow and then some. So long, Adobe. I, too, will be on the hunt for a suitable replacement.

Originally posted by KingIcarus

This said, I think Adobe should make a basic version of their suite software available free to home, school and student users. It's great software, but the folks who make money off it should shoulder the costs for hobbyists and those in education.

They don't have the whole suite but you can get a legitimate copy of Photoshop CS2 for free now. Yeah you don't have some of the nice new features like content-aware and 3D model support, but you also still have a really powerful program that you can do pretty much anything you could really need design wise.

As for the rest of the suite, just get the torrents. Adobe has never and would never sue people for using them for educational purposes. They know anyone at a decent sized firm will buy legit copies and pirated software just ends up being an educational tool that encourages people to use their software.

reply to post by Auricom


I doubt you'll find it. GIMP is decent, but then you might as well just go with the free version of CS2 that Adobe is letting anyone use for free. Other than that there's not really any challengers out there, and there's no reason you couldn't just keep using whatever version of Photoshop you already have. New features and improvements are always nice, but there's no reason you couldn't use Photoshop CS2 for the next 10 years and be fine.

reply to post by WaterBottle


Doesn't a leased car get you from point A to point B? Doesn't a leased Photoshop get you from no design to a design? You might not like the plan, but don't pretend that it's somehow just them stealing your money for nothing.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Hey! ... we were just talking about this only a couple of days ago! I was deciding whether to re-purchase my existing licence from CS3 to CS6.

Well, I guess my choice is made for me, whether I like it or not.
That's the part that kills me - the choice is taken away from the consumer.

On the plus side - for me being in the business, a lease is 100% tax deductible and there's no excuse for slacking off on updates (which is what got me into this mess in the first place.)

And because I own a current CS3 licence I get the first year for 40% off - $29.99/mo
Current Creative Suite users offer
At least that's something.
I do think I'm going to prefer it this way I must say.



reply to post by opethPA

WARP!!!

now thats an OS i didn't expect to see mentioned.. 8 million floppy disks and red or blue binder.

floppy disk memories

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Quite honestly, the whole concept of "the cloud" has concerned me since its inception. The more programs and processes that go the way of "the cloud" makes me feel like there is nothing private anymore. To me it smacks of Big Brother on so many levels, but one could say that I've become a cynic at heart, lol.

I've resisted using the cloud for storage of anything up until this point (at least elective use of it - who knows what programs have automatic uploads to it without our knowledge), but I also noticed a few weeks ago that unless you already have a particular Adobe Suite on an existing computer, the only way to access it is via cloud subscription. I personally don't like it one bit.

reply to post by timidgal
Having used this, I can confirm it's as others described for the details I may have forgotten to mention earlier in the thread.

(If this helps)

You download the installer and then select/download whatever pieces or all over the CS Master Suite you are wanting to have on-board. 100% of the software is on your system, as it's always been. The only key difference here is that it's checking your Adobe CC account for subscription status instead of checking your serial number for a valid return on the entry. Thats really it. It will run that check at least once a month or Adobe stops working at that point. So, you by no means need to be connected to use your software and you don't need to store any files upstream and on their servers.

The cloud part comes in with access to their full resources of additional items like fonts, clip art, symbol libraries and whatever else you can imagine. They've got it there somewhere and integrated right into the programs to access from inside AE or PS, for instance.

If you work out the pricing, full rate also comes to $600 a year with upgrades being programmed into that cost. No additional money when a major new upgrade comes. So, in all reality, this is cheaper by a long shot ...even for college students like me, if you are going to use the full Master selection of software (Which I sure came to like having awfully quickly when it was there to use).

I don't much like the fact this is forced as the only choice, anymore than anyone else....but I'd have chosen it if given the option anyway (and had). That is, if I still did graphics on anything like a professional or academic level. My subscription ran out last month because I don't anymore.

Originally posted by WaterBottle
reply to post by boncho

 

It's a lot better. Access to every Adobe program for $50/month.

Why? You are essentially renting the programs. You'll never own them. It's throwing money out the window, like leasing a car.

So tell me exactly how much your CS4 copies are worth?

reply to post by ohiwastedmylif


i make a lot of rather cool avatars using CS3. I have tried to upgrade to CS5. I don't like it that well. The interface seems more "clunky" to me.

This helps make the world very week!
in 20 years all will depend on power.
so to send the world all the way back to the dark ages.
is to destroy the power.

EVER thing needs electricity to work.
even if you have your own generator.
you can never get it back.

no power = no mines, steel works, no way to build electrical items.
it will take 200 years to rebuild.
unless the dark ages come back or religion.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

So if I'm understanding you correctly, I can buy the "old" suite for around $600, but I'll need to also purchase a subscription to utilize some of the newer features?

Let's assume for a moment that I can make do without those newer features, is my private work saved on my personal computer or is there some tiny caveat written into the user agreement that allows them to automatically upload it to the cloud as well? Lol, I sound like a paranoid lunatic - -, but as I said before, the whole concept of the cloud has not sat well with me from its inception. If you don't know these answers off the top of your head, no worries as I can look them up myself.

reply to post by timidgal

I'm not sure what you mean on the price. If you have a previous version of CS, from 3 to 6 (someone here has 3 and got the deal) then you're at $30 a month or $360 for the first year, then $50 a month/$600 a year after that. Thats where the price is. No buying something, then paying a monthly fee. The purchase IS the monthly. Which also means, if you only want Photoshop, for instance, and nothing else? As I read it now, it'll be $10 a month to have it, for as long as you're paying the $10. When you stop, you get the "Please renew your subscription" notice just like you will get the "Trial Expired" notice now if you run the 30 day trial.

Either way, you have the full 10 or 15 gig of software on your machine. Not theirs.

On the files you create? That's yours. I have no idea if cloud storage even comes with it ...although I imagine it does. That's how much I personally care about it. I have a couple online storage options, including my own leased web server for my hosting/design stuff ...so I don't need theirs and wouldn't trust it anyway, as you note. Not for original graphics work.

100% of everything stays on your machine. Not theirs.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Gotcha'. My problem is that I have a brand new computer with no previous versions installed. I'll have to look at the small print of their user agreements and decide what to do. Thanks for your response!

TG