On May 5th, 2013, Adobe announced the end to their long running design software Creative Suite in favour of a completely new approach to distribution.

The introduction of Adobe Creative Cloud means that you are no longer able to pay a bulk sum to get the latest version of Adobe's software each year, and instead you must enter their subscription service at a set monthly rate. All the same familiar software - Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere – remain available, now with ongoing updates rather than being tied to one major annual update.

Cheaper to join, more expensive to stay

As with previous generations of Creative Suite, you have an option to access 30-day trials of all of the Creative Cloud apps. When that trial ends however, you'll now be presented with two options:

1. Subscribe to the individual application at $20 monthly ($240 yearly). This is an ideal option for an individual that really only needs access to one application like Premiere or Photoshop.
2. Subscribe to the full Creative Cloud at $50 monthly ($600 yearly). This will give you access to everything, all of Adobe's 20+ applications for design, coding, video, audio and all types of creative work.

It's worth noting that both of these options require a full year commitment. If you were to cancel after the first month, you'll be stuck with a charge of 50% of your remaining contract. And while they do offer month to month contracts, these will end up running you more if you want more than just a few months of access.

What this change in pricing means for you will depend on how you previously bought and used Adobe software:

Those that would previously upgrade their Production or Creative Suite every year will likely end up paying more in the long run under the Creative Cloud subscription model. Whereas previously, you could follow Adobe's upgrade path and have a relatively cheap annual cost to stay with the latest software, Creative Cloud has a fixed price, that after the first year discounts expire will be almost double than the regular cycle upgrade of $375.

For those that would wait years between updates, the new subscription service is also likely much more pricy. You'll no longer have to option of holding off on upgrading to the latest software in order to save money.

For new users/business subscribers however, cost of entry is now much lower. It'll only take a $600 yearly commitment to gain full access to everything Adobe has to offer, as opposed to the previous investment of anywhere from $1500 to $2000 for a full license of previous generations of the Adobe suite.

For those not ready to make the switch to the cloud just yet, or aren't happy with being locked into a subscription, Adobe will continue to sell their latest “perpetual licence” CS6 bundle in their store, and all previous generations of the suite will continue to function as normal.

What's in it for me?

If you're already a consistent Adobe costumer, you may be feeling a bit put out by this change in rhythm that could very likely start costing you or your business more each year. So what are the actually benefits you're going to see from buying into a Creative Cloud subscription?

With Creative Cloud, updates to the applications are set to become much more frequent than with Adobe's previous yearly revision model. Hopefully this will mean more stable, more compatible versions of their software, as well as new features being rolled out month-to-month instead of held up for a big yearly revamp.

One of the first of these new features is Camera Shake Reduction for Photoshop. The new feature, only in Creative Cloud, intelligently detects camera movement from when the image was captured. The filter automatically will correct even the most amateur of camera work and leave you with a crisp and focused image.

Other benefits that are bundled into your subscription include things like: 20 GB of personal cloud storage, access to Adobe's ProSite which allow you to build a professional online portfolio, and full access to Adobe's support library and tutorials. All nice things to have, but also all probably things that you already have handled by another service.

The Future of Software?

Are those that cancel their subscriptions still entitled to access their work?

How will those that choose to stick with perpetual license versions of their software collaborate with those that have bought into the subscription model?

What are the motivations for Adobe to continue to innovate on their products if those that use them are already locked into paying monthly for them?

There are still many questions that will need to be addressed as more and more software developers move towards a service-style business model.

Some of these questions don't have clear answers, but as we continue to put more and more of our trust into these large companies, we've got to keep evaluating if they have our best interests in mind.

All in all, Adobe's move to a subscription model comes with some real benefits to those that use the software and lowers the barrier of entry for new users of Adobe software. At the same time however, the move will leave some loyal yearly upgraders out in the cold with significant increases to their yearly cost and with some unanswered questions that could become real problems for consumers down the line.