@inqb8r: "Sooo, how does this work? You pay the fee, agree the eula, download any .pkg you need from the cloud and install it? Does it constantly check for activation/license status? What happens if you are offline?"

As I understand it, you can be offline for around 30 days before it's necessary to reconnect and verify the licensing again. This way if you are out in the field without a connection, it's not immediately an issue. I could see it being a problem if you're on a production in a remote region without internet for several months though, I wonder how Adobe will address that?

@kavadni, "Once you have subscribed, you can cancel at any time. The software stops working ...then start again at anytime.

For example, pay a month do a job. Cancel it. Next job 6 months later. Pay another month. Do another job. That's my understanding."

That's correct for the monthly plans, but if you choose a yearly contract (which I think has better monthly rates) and want to cancel after the first 30 days, you still pay about half of what you would have for the whole year as a cancellation fee.

I recently uninstalled Adobe CS6 on my workstation and reverted back to CS5.5, which can still be found on ebay. I use CS6 on my laptop where it's useful for recording and review in the field. As far as I can tell, Adobe has no plans to resolve the insidious "digital rain" bug which afflicts the MainConcept AVCHD decoder bundled in CS6. In addition, Adobe's refusal to update the CS5.5 version of Adobe Camera Raw to support cameras released in 2013 is very troubling. This strongly suggests that support for CS6 will cease when CS7 is released, forcing all subscribers to upgrade well before CS7 has established a track record for reliability.

While CS5.5 lacks a few of the latest version's bullet-point features, its workflow, stability, and resource requirements are well-established and predictable. LIke FCP7, CS5.5 will likely become obsolete at some point, but I'm confident Adobe will maintain conversion compatibility of CS5.5 projects in future versions. I'm hoping many of my deal-breaking issues with CS6 will be rectified with CS7.

it's not on the cloud - it resides on your computer. It just checks every month to see if your activation is still valid - read: paid.

This is a very bad move imo. I don't see any reason or excuse why they couldn't just continue Rent AND Own. To force people to Rent has created this huge backlash against their name. It may be a future trend but i don't see why they have to take away the option to own and keep both options. Let the User decide. As mentioned, it opens the door way open for FCP again. Also, there are many other alternatives. I must be in the minority who owns alot of MMedia software. If they were to all go Subscription, it would be impossible and i don't see that happening. If you don't run many other apps, then i guess you can rent one suite for the rest of your life. I just like alot of different apps. Kind of a software glutton. :)

VK is right - this is the new model for everything

@jleo

All this shit with "licensing" is required to prevent obvious things arising from owner rights and how they do not match with copyright laws.

@shian Another great idea Adobe has is Creative Cloud. 2GB of free storage and the rest comes with a monthly bill. If you don't pay, you still have access to 2GB of your content!

Dreary... but we will adapt. Humanity will survive!!!

Of course!!! Me first.

Anyways... gotta earn more money to pay for more stuff. Crazy...

One of the important questions rised by many smart guys is an extreme file format complications that can arise from proposed change. In one year you could get 10 backwards incompatible formats. And most probably it will be exactly method they will use to fight piracy. You could steal their software but your copy will stop to properly read files people will be sending you (as Adobe has right to update software in background, btw, according to new license).

I know of companies that will not allow graphics and editing workstations to be connected to the internet. I guess this will now have to change as well if they want to do any work.

Everything by Subscription...

The Financial Times reports that the long-rumored paid subscription model is coming to YouTube as early as this week. The strategy will help YouTube compete not only with other online outlets like Netflix and Hulu but also with major networks like CBS. However, it's also a sea change in the site's approach to content, since YouTube has always been a destination for endless amounts of free user-generated content. Don't worry, though. Most of it will still be free — for now anyways.

More here:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2013/05/are-you-ready-pay-youtube/64896/