russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

There are all sorts of third parties that provide support for even the oldest products. They usually hang out at the Adobe Forums.

You don't have to have the latest and the greatest. In fact, you can tell both Adobe and Windows (and probably your Mac OS) NOT to install the latest without your approval, or you can do like I do and just check manually once a week. I depend on Adobe products to make a living so I can't have Adobe updating things willy nilly when those upgrades might delete my plug-ins, Actions, or customized keyboard shortcuts.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

At least you finally admit that you don't own the software, only a license to use that software. That means you've made progress! Yahooooooooooooooo!

randomeyes Loc: wilds of b.c. canada

We get it. You don't care for adobe. I could give a rats ass if you like Adobe or not. There is a program out there that would fit you to a tee, its called GIMP!!!

blackest Loc: Ireland

perpetual license ‎(plural perpetual licenses)

A license with no expiration date.
or A Permanent Life Long License.

~~~~~
Let's look at the options....a perpetual license (where you buy the software and keep it "forever") and a subscription type (where you pay a yearly subscription amount and if you don't renew, the license is no longer valid). What are the pros and cons ? Well, it depends on your point of view and ultimately, of course, the preference of whoever it is that is paying for it (CFO?).

Generically, you can view it like this (although this may change by vendor) :

Perpetual License
One time payment. Validity – Perpetual. Entitlement – Software license alone. Annual support, updates and upgrades are not included and can range from 18-22% of total cost of acquisition.

Subscription
Annual, recurring payment. Validity – 12 months. Entitlement - software license, support, updates and upgrades.

So, one of the most relevant, non-commercial questions is "do I always want to be on the latest version of the software?". If so, then the subscription model may be best for you.

Commercially, you should figure out the willingness of your company / organization to pay with CAPEX (for perpetual) versus paying with OPEX (for subscriptions)? In some organizations it is harder to get capital to spend than it is to get operational money or expenses. Subscription licenses can often be funded as OPEX, where perpetual licenses, due to the larger upfront investment (i.e. one time) usually requires CAPEX funding and subsequent amortization over a given period.

For European owners of perpetual licenses this may be of interest.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2505356/it-management/eu-court-rules-resale-of-used-software-licenses-is-legal----even-online.html

Europe's highest court ruled on Tuesday that the trading of "used" software licenses is legal and that the author of such software cannot oppose any resale.

The exclusive right of distribution of a copy of a computer program covered by such a licence is exhausted on its first sale, said the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This applies to downloaded software as well as that bought on CD or DVD. This ruling sets a precedent for trading of used software licenses throughout the European Union and could potentially impact ebooks and computer games as well.

The court also ruled that any patches or upgrades made to the software through a service agreement also form part of the used software that can be sold on. However it said that the reseller must make the copy downloaded onto his own computer "unusable" at the time of resale.

The German Federal Court of Justice referred the question to the ECJ following a legal battle between Oracle and UsedSoft, a company that buys and sells used software. Oracle launched the case after UsedSoft offered "pre-used" Oracle software licenses online in October 2005.

Oracle customers can download a copy of the program directly onto their computer from Oracle's website. The user right for such a program, which is granted by a license agreement, includes the right to store a copy of the program permanently on a server and to allow up to 25 users to access it by downloading it to the main memory of their workstation computers.

In a small victory for Oracle, the ECJ ruling prevents resellers from breaking up a license and selling only part of it if they have purchased licenses for more users than they need.

UsedSoft customers download the resold software directly from Oracle's website after acquiring a 'used' license. Oracle argued that the principle of exhaustion does not apply to user licenses for computer programs downloaded from the Internet. However the ECJ firmly rejected this argument.

So with a perpetual license you own the license and can resell it, at least in Europe. With a Subscription license you stop paying it you have nothing.

So anyone got a used copy of photoshop they want to sell? :)

Redron Loc: Fairfield. California

If you have Photoshop CC you are not locked into anything pay yearly or monthly you can get out anytime you want
If you don’t think that there’s anything new in CC as opposed to earlier versions
that you want to learn or improve on
whatever works
Ive met some very nice people on barstools

Macronaut Loc: Redondo Beach,Ca.

Three years old......

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

Photoshop has come a long way from CS5 and Lightroom from ver 5. PS is now in ver 20.0.1 and LR is ver 8.0, Build 1193777.

It's cheaper by the month than CS and LR used to be even with the upgrade discounts. Both titles have a really finished look and feel to them, and there are things that were a little wonky that just plain work now. At $120/yr it's a real bargain compared to what you had been paying for upgrades every 18 months or so.

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

I will support Roger's right to use his previously licensed software as long as he feels it's possible. Personally I'm kind of an Adobe fanboy, and like to have the latest and greatest, but to each his(her) own.

I would however say that we should all get used to the subscription model. It's going to be the way things work for the future. I suspect that it wasn't even Adobe that invented that model. Microsoft is going that way, and much of the large professional software (not just photo modification, but accounting, control, inventory programs etc.) has been provided on that basis for decades.

The subscription model does have some advantages. For the company, subscriptions provide a more reliable cash flow. That makes it possible for the software company to keep their software writers employed on a regular basis, and allows the software to grow more feature rich. (I know software growth is not universally liked and is sometimes called bloat instead of growth). For the user, the subscription allows the cost of the program to be spread over a period of time at a cost that is reasonable. Inflation happens, and the monthly cost will probably go up sometime in the future but Adobe, at least, has kept it constant over several years now. In addition, all the updates are included in the subscription price, and incremental updates occur much more frequently now.

If you are still using an old program (and the term "old" applied to software means probably more than two years of age) and if it works for you, that's great. New software and its features are not for you and you can save a bit of money. For the rest of us, and particularly for the gearheads, the constant implementation of new features is paradise. There's no point in arguing about it. We're both right. Just from different assumptions.

De gustibus non est disputandum.
(This observation dates from Plutarch, who died around 140 AD).