There may be no software concept as heavily promoted as the cloud, but some developers are doing their best to make sure it lives up to the hype. Enter Adobe, the dominant maker of digital design tools. Earlier this month the company announced that it would no longer build and sell its Creative Suite software in a box, but instead as a cloud-based subscription service. Users will be able to run the software offline, but cloud integration will enable access to valuable features. Every subscriber will get software updates as soon as they’re available. No more waiting for new versions. No more wasteful packaging and optical media. And the switch should cut down on piracy.

The snag is that it will no longer be possible to buy a perpetual license. It has always been common for users to pay for software once and then avoid the next few versions, saving money and sacrificing new features that may not be useful for them. This will no longer be possible with respect to Adobe. For businesses, this is no big problem. But for penny-pinched freelancers and nonprofits, paying a monthly subscription fee for years on end may be financially painful.

Other developers, such as Microsoft, are moving in this same subscription-based direction. In the long term, this shift is probably unavoidable. But consumers have good reason to be wary — and to consider the free and low-cost alternatives to propriety software that kind-hearted programmers have been producing for decades.

Source:http://www.bostonglobe.com/editorials/2013/05/23/adobe-bold-new-approach-software-holds-perils-for-freelancers/LTFCwqE7odqIkrJmUkdLqO/story.html