Adobe Listens to Users, Defers Big Changes to CS6 Upgrade Policy
January 11th, 2012 Leave a comment
= BREAKING NEWS =
Two months ago Adobe made a major change in the Creative Suite upgrade policy that had been in place since CS3 came out in April 2007…
Had you heard about it? If not, here’s what they said on the new upgrade policy for CS6…
In a nutshell, Adobe said only customers running Creative Suite 5 products would be eligible for discounted upgrade pricing to the new CS6 when it comes out.
Customers spoke up and reaction to the change was pretty unfavorable across the web… Results from our own poll here showed a striking 91% against the move including the company’s related business model changes to the Creative Cloud.
And now, in a stunning turnabout, Adobe says they have been listening and are backing off the new policy, in response to customer feedback…
Yes, it’s true – and just as we were one of the first to break the original story, we’re back now with the good news that the older Creative Suite versions like CS3 and CS4 will indeed be able to get upgrade discounts to CS6 in the future.
Here it is from our Adobe Partner Update:
CS6 Upgrade Offer for CS3 and CS4 Customers
With these great new releases coming in 2012, we want to make sure our customers have plenty of time to discover which offering is best for them. Therefore, we’re pleased to announce that we will offer special introductory upgrade pricing on Creative Suite 6 to our customers who own CS3 or CS4.
This offer will be available from the time CS6 is released until December 31, 2012. More details on this offer, as well as any introductory offers for existing customers to move to Creative Cloud membership, will be announced when CS6 and Creative Cloud are released later this year.
In other words, Adobe will effectively be restoring their longstanding “three versions back” upgrade policy through the launch of CS6, until the end of this year…
You can read more details about the new policy here, under the section, “What is Adobe’s upgrade pricing policy?” Note you will be able to purchase future CS products just like today, as perpetual (permanent) desktop licenses.
So, all you folks with CS3 or CS4 can now rest easy if your plans have been to upgrade to CS6 all along, as this will give you the chance to do it with lower prices as you had been expecting. For those customers now on CS5 or CS5.5, it should cost even less for you to upgrade to CS6 under Adobe’s Tiered Upgrade Pricing Policy, because you own a more recent version.
Note the company has not announced CS6 pricing for anybody yet, so at this point we don’t know these exact numbers and how different they’ll be from those for CS5, if at all.
But if you do get on board with CS6 later this year, then looking forward under the new policy starting in 2013, you’d have nearly four years to think about later upgrading from CS6 to CS7 down the line.
So it’s good to see that after all the discussion, Adobe listened – and rethought this policy in a way that gave enough notice and made more sense for customers.
Please spread the word and share this news with anyone who you think should know!
See also: Acrobat, Lightroom, and Elements – How Are They Affected By Creative Cloud?
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@ Warrier
I would suggest talking to a customer service person for that, Warrier. See if they can arrange something for you – it’s worth the ask!
Yes, I have followed the discussion on Adobe upgrade policy but I still cannot figure out what I am qualified for for the discount pricing. Adobe says:
You own one of the following individual products…Upgrade to Creative Suite 5.5 Production Premium
1. After Effects CS5, CS4, or CS3……………………………………US$1,099
2. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, CS4, or CS3………………………US$1,099
3. Photoshop CS5, CS4, or CS3………………………………………US$1,099
I have items 1, 2 and 3. but then do I still have to pay $1099 to upgrade to CS5.5 Production Premium? Or can I get a different discount?
I do plan on talking to Adobe but if you have any insights, I would appreciate it.
-warrier
As far as we know, to upgrade you’d pay the $1099 regardless (or whatever the CS6 equivalent amount would be for Production Premium).
You could contact Adobe (online chat is often easiest/fastest), but it may not give you a different answer.
Good luck and thanks for visiting!
I am also an amateur photographer like Andy and can’t afford to upgrade my software at this price bracket very often. But I am into some video processing as well and after using the trial version of CS5.5 Production Premium, I would like to do a one-time upgrade to CS6.
I need only the Premiere, Photoshop and AfterEffects and the Bridge to integrate them. But keeping my needs to these three, I still need to shell out more than $1000 (most likely even higher for the CS6).
So what are my choices? Upgrade individually or go for the full CS6 Production Premium? I am a slow decision maker so I haven’t committed to the CS5.5 thankfully!!! But if I upgrade to CS5.5 now and get a free CS6 upgrade that would be a thought…
Upgrading individually would cost about the same or more, and you wouldn’t get the tremendous benefits of Dynamic Link within the suite, plus other applications…
If you buy CS5.5 now, Adobe is definitely not offering free upgrades to CS6. However, this could be a possibility in the future if they offer another “grace period” after CS6 is officially launched, as they have done in the past.
To ProDesign:
“If you buy CS5.5 now, Adobe is definitely not offering free upgrades to CS6. However, this could be a possibility in the future if they offer another ‘grace period’ after CS6 is officially launched, as they have done in the past.”
Has Adobe told you that?
No, we’ve heard nothing on that – so the possibility was framed with, “if they offer one” for CS6, as has happened in the past… But typically we won’t know for sure on that kind of thing until the actual release happens down the road.
Adobe does always have what’s called a “Post-Announce Upgrade Policy” that’s generally in place, but it’s not specified for which products or for how long – so it varies.
Note however that because of the company’s longstanding Return, Refund & Exchange Policy, buyers going forward can effectively create their own grace period for a free upgrade, should a newer version be released within 30 days of purchase.
Hope that helps.
It sounds like Adobe is attempting to encourage more piracy of their products.
Hey there Rami, as was observed above, the new policy starting in 2013 will actually be similar to most other major software companies now… Still, it’s obviously going to be less flexible than it was before. Regardless, trying to pirate Adobe software is definitely not a good idea…
I (amongst others) have been concerned whether this new upgrade policy would include users of individual programs, in my case specifically, Photoshop (and LR). I had been ‘forced’ into the C5 upgrade and having heard that it was (apparently) now possible to upgrade directly from CS4 to CS6 (Photoshop only) I rang to request a refund, but thought it wise to first double check that I would UNEQUIVOCALLY be able to upgrade to Photoshop CS6 (boxed or downloadable version), when it came out, at an upgrade price.
So I rang Adobe customer services (as the ‘refunds’ dept. line dropped three times in succession when I tried that extension). After half an hour on the phone to Adobe customer services the definitive answer is: they don’t know.
Yup you heard right: the lady I spoke to only could refer me to the info on their own website which she agreed was ambiguous (in regard to my specific questions); in that it did not specify whether users of INDIVIDUAL CS products would be able to take advantage of the upgrade offer, nor whether the upgrade to CS6 (from CS4) would be for a boxed/downloadable version or whether it would be only for the cloud version.
In other words, it is still not clear whether users of Photoshop (as opposed to the full CS suites) CS3/CS4 will have an upgrade path to CS6 Photoshop which can be installed on their computer.
- It is not clear whether the upgrade path (CS4-CS6) will be for boxed/downloadable versions or for cloud only versions ( I asked very specifically about this).
Nor is it clear whether the upgrade price will be within the usual upgrade price parameters.
I explained to the lady in customer services that it did not reflect well on Adobe that their agents did not have access to definitive answers to these important questions, (and despite her asking her manager).
I am no wiser after spending half an hour on the phone to adobe customer services than I was before I rang.
Welcome Paul. So sorry that you spent the time but didn’t get definitive answers to your questions…
We can assure you with absolute certainty that there will be discounted upgrade pricing for individual CS3 and CS4 applications to CS6 standalone products, either for boxed or download.
In other words, it will work the same way it does today – with a “three versions back” upgrade policy for either suites or point products, in place through the end of 2012.
Adobe has even said this themselves in writing (see comment by PS Product Manager Jeffrey Tranberry).
The upgrade pricing has not been set and likely won’t be announced until CS6 is released, but we believe it will be similar to what it is today, for a similar move up to CS5.
The Creative Cloud initiative is entirely separate and optional – and there will be absolutely no obligation for customers to use or buy or upgrade to that.
The company has also been very clear that perpetual (permanent) licenses will continue to be offered and available, and nobody will be forced to subscriptions (rentals) if they don’t want them.
We are 100% sure about all this… we’re in direct touch with Adobe every week… and hope it is clearer now!
Does that answer all your questions?
If not, check out our new post:
When Will Adobe CS6 Be Released, including Photoshop CS6?
@ ProDesignTools
Thanks for the info – ok so I guess I can go back and request a refund for the forced CS5 Ps upgrade, but do you know whether there will also be a LR2 to LR4 upgrade available or should I keep that portion of the upgrade package I just took out (Ps4->Ps5 + LR2->LR3)?
Sure Paul, glad to help. The existing Lightroom policies have not changed and will not be changing…
Adobe has not yet announced prices for Lightroom 4, but we expect that discounted upgrade pricing will be available to upgrade to LR4 from all previous versions, just as it is today.
OK thanks for this.
However I still find it hard to feel confident when Adobe themselves (through their customer services) do not agree with what you say. Twice I have spoken to them.
You’re welcome Paul. You had said the answers the rep gave you were inconclusive… We’re just giving you conclusive ones. :)
So it’s not an issue of disagreement – it’s an issue of certainty. We look at this full-time 24×7 all year long, and are in regular touch with higher levels at Adobe.
@ ProDesignTools
Yeah thanks – it was just that I phoned again today. In the end I gave up as the line from India (presumably by the accent) dropped again. That made 5 times I had to redial -re-explain etc.
All in all a frustrating experience – thank heavens for you guys or I wouldn’t know what the blazes was going on.
thanks again
LOL thanks – we try to get it right, and hope to make things simpler for you.
Also for future reference, it’s often fastest and easiest to get a hold of Adobe Support via live online chat.
Good luck Paul and please stop back anytime!
Just to say Adobe Customer Service got back in touch and sorted it all out very satisfactorily. They’re back in my good books now ;)
Great news Paul – glad to hear they followed up with you and resolved things in good shape. Thanks for the update!
Tricky situation. I have CS5 Design Premium and was planning on skipping CS5.5 and go for CS6 as soon as it’s out. But now I need to make country adaptations to files made with InDesign CS5.5. Upgrading the whole bundle is 399 € and upgrading just InDesign is 149 €. I can push the project to March, but that probably won’t be enough to reach the grace period. So the million, well, no, maybe 200 euro question is, how much will upgrading from CS5 be, vs. from CS5.5…?
Greetings Johan, here is an answer and analysis that hopefully will help you figure that out.
Thank you. History suggests that upgrading just InDesign now would save me 50 € (excl. tax) in the not so long run (149+599 instead of 2×399). So I will. And here’s to history repeating itself…
@ Johan The ID upgrade actually ended costing only 119 €.
Great! Glad it worked out Johan, and thank you for following up with the details.
Well, no, it didn’t. When trying to activate InDesign it didn’t work. Went to Adobe online store to see if I missed some small print on the purchase page, but no. Only after digging deep in the support pages did I find a note that you can’t upgrade an individual application from one bought as part of a suite. I would have needed to purchase the full app for 849 €. This is barking mad. I do understand that things would get pretty complicated if one could upgrade individual apps from suite apps, but it still should be possible. There is now no economically sensible way to downgrade if you find you only need one app in the future.
If nothing else, Adobe should change the naming of individual apps to clear things up. When sold as a standalone they should call it InDesign 7.5 and leave the CS numbering just for bundled (or rather ‘suited’) apps. When they ask what I’m upgrading from and InDesign CS5 is an option it’s hardly illogical that I choose it as I have it. At least they should include the disclaimer on the purchase page LOUD AND CLEAR. Sorry…
So sorry about that Johan – we assumed you’d had an individual copy of InDesign CS5 that you were upgrading… Yes, because of the heavy discounting when the products are bundled into a suite, Adobe’s policies don’t allow upgrading from a suite to an individual application. Apologies if that wasn’t (or isn’t!) clearer.
See Adobe’s Creative Suite FAQ under, “Am I eligible for upgrade pricing from an earlier Creative Suite edition to an individual CS component?”
Your best bet now may be to return the one you purchased (don’t worry, it’s easy) – and then upgrade the full suite to CS5.5 as referenced in our earlier reply. The additional cost for moving a suite from CS5.0 to CS5.5 and then later from CS5.5 to CS6 should be somewhere in the neighborhood of what you paid for the single product upgrade.
Either that, or you can use a free trial of InDesign CS5.5 standalone for the next 30 days and see where you are at that time, and how things look with the CS6 release.
Thinking short term, you could also possibly consider getting a temporary subscription for the months in between, but you wouldn’t own the software and it may not end up being less expensive depending.
Hope that helps!
Adobe listening is great. What is not great is early users getting a break without being faithful to Adobe. Loyal customers should get the best options. One size fits all is not a good policy.
@ Rami
You must be a lib to even throw out the piracy argument.
@ ProDesignTools I did mention having the suite in my first post. But I’m not blaming you for any of this ; ) I started the return process right away, will take a few days I guess.
I’ve been an Adobe customer for quite some time, Starting with Page Maker 6, Photoshop 4 and Illustrator 6. I’ve bought all CS bundles except for CS4 which I skipped. So I guess I feel I should have more sensible options. Yes, the bundles bring savings, but honestly, the standalone apps are too expensive. But, I have no choice and Adobe knows it.
Well, we thought that since you had upgraded just InDesign, that you must have also had a separate standalone copy to do it with… But obviously, that was putting the cart before the horse. And you’re right that it could be clearer on Adobe’s site when making the purchase.
Good luck with it Johan, and thanks for sharing your story here.