Adobe offers CS6 upgrade for CS3 and CS4 users, and rebrands Carousel

Just before the holidays I went with Corel's bundle of Paint Shop Pro X4 and the Video software.

I even took a pass on Adobe Light Room, at least for now. We'll see what LR4 has to offer when it's out of beta testing, but at this point I'm not enthusiastic about Adobe's licensing shenanigans, so I'm not really feeling a burning in my loins for any of their software. I'm even thinking of upgrading all my other Corel software to their most current versions just so I can stay away from Adobe!

When Adobe announced that pricing policy I felt like I was bitten by a dog. And I was merely trialing their software at the time!

Adobe will learn the hard way that greed is a self destructing formula. The higher end studios and volume producers might not mind paying, but the bulk of adobe's customer base will resent and start looking for other options.

First, I hope that Abobe offers standalone CS6 (upgrade). If I knew how to operate all the features of Creative Suite I'd be doing it for a living. I use LR2 for 90% of my work coupled with Photomatix, Topaz and Nik. I trust that all of you out there take the best images you can and then enhance them. If so, then LR with plugins will do great. However, Puppet Warp, Content Aware Fill and a few other unique feature sets make CS5 EXT worth having. I feel that I will have to be Blown Away to dip into my wallet again. I definitly agree with those who ask for reasonable prices, especially when the major market is amateur. I sincerely hope that Adobe has not reached a point of diminishing returns. At this time I am more concerned with the march technology rendering all of my media obsolete. I hope that Adobe is as concerned as I am.

I have CS5 - and can't see where I will need an upgrade from CS5 any time soon. It should last at least 5+ years, maybe even more. Maybe by then a real competitor will arise.

Also if Adobe has plans on starting up their "subscription" scheme to steal from users on a running fee basis per month (like a utility bill) - once the usefulness of my PAID copy of CS5 runs out - I will forever delete and block all things Adobe, and never look back.

For those who are not aware - They are currently trying to scam users with this never ending billing scheme on the new web design product called "Muse".

Adobe used to be amazing - they made truly groundbreaking things.

Now they just update stuff that plateaued years ago and pass it off as 'progress' - for which you must pay.... handsomely....

It is an amazing piece of software - but alienating previous owners is not a good business model.

I just really hope a genuine alternative to Photoshop becomes available that will run the plugins I use. If that happens I'll jump immediately so I'm no longer ripped off by Adobe.

APPLE please buy Adobe and NIK software!!!

I personally prefer to donate money to gimp than fall into adobes blackmail

Adobe is losing young customers rapidly.There is no version of PS or LR that is affordable for students or young starting professionals. More and more young people are using Linux as their primary OS. I don't even own a copy of Windows other that the crippled vista home that came with my hardware (deleted it from the HD first thing, never missed it)

If they would create a Linux version of PS and LR for 100 €/$ I would be the first one to buy it. (provided proof of studentship or starter, even MS is doing that)

The problem Adobe has is that if CS3 was the latest version, it would still be the gold standard. CS5 is way better than CS3 and more than enough for a long time to come IMHO. You can do your basic RAW conversion in any software program you wish, save it as a tiff and still pull it into ACR to benefit from all the tools inside it. Or you could convert a copy of your RAW file to DNG and then pull it (as a RAW file) into ACR. Point is, you actually don't need another ACR upgrade to recognize your new camera's RAW format.

Hey Adobe, we won't need CS6 or perhaps even 7 for a while still. Especially not inside an iCloud or any other iBig Boss or iEye-In-The-Sky type of system. Sorry. Forget it. Not now, not ever. Especially not for the amount of money you charge!

So Adobe didn't ditch their stupid new policy, they only delayed it for *some* users. Dumb. People don't like having their arm twisted. If I were the maker of alternative software to Adobe, I'd be jumping for joy.

Alternatives: (prices as of 01/14/2012))
Aperture: $79.99
Capture NX: $179.95
GIMP: Free
Oloneo PhotoEngine: $149.00
Oloneo HDREngine: $59.00
Photoline - 59 Euros
Pixelmator $29.99
Portrait Professional $39.95 (current 50% off special)

It's simple.
Adobe does not have a competition and therefor can do whatever they want!

The whole reason adobe switched the upgrade scheme was to force people to upgrade every time a new version came out. Too many people (from adobes point of view) were skipping versions and only upgrading every other or sometimes every third new version. Rather than makeing the next version seem like a good value for the money and not just an over priced incremental upgrade, adobe decided to basically tell it's customers, "upgrade every time or else."

This is why so many had such sour grapes about it. It was clear it was just an underhanded money grab.

I moved to Asia after I retired. And I hate to say this but if you go into a computer shop here and want windows 7, CS5 or whatever is is 10 dollars. They hack everything. It must be costing the software giants billions of dollars. I had a glitch in my laptop the other day and wanted windows reloaded. When I got it back it had CS5, windows 7 and several other programs added just for bringing it in. 10 dollars. I asked the software guy what was up. He said and I quote.
The Americans make the best software and we haven't paid for any yet.
I kinda see where PS is coming from. But I think they need to fix there software where it is safe from hackers. Then it would be cheaper to all.

I bought the Photoshop CS5 upgrade a month ago, I went from CS3 to CS5 because of the Adobe policy. After a month of working I still fail to see the advance of CS5 over CS3, honestly, I just can't see it.. I believe I see 'Puppet Warp', a bit of interface redesign (more anoying in my opinion), for the rest I just do the same stuff with Photoshop as I did 10 years ago. CMYK is there, the layers, the brushes, the masks. Hey, where is all the new inventive stuff that made it worth the money spend? No wonder no one wants to upgrade, what's the point???

But it seems the offer doesn't apply to individual products:-(
Elements works just as well in conjunction with Lightroom
And I see Corel are producing a good competitive product.
The reign of Photoshop is drawing to a close.

Power of the masses! Adobe lost! When the customer is so upset, that he/she denies to buy any future products, the corporations step back. It was an overwhelming protest.

Re dropping "Carousel": think they were being threatened by Kodak?

Adobe has crossed a line in customer relations that shouldn'd be crossed. This new 'special offer' is a slight backtrack, but even after the public outcry they play hardball. They are going to lose customers, that's for shure. I am one of them.