This news has taken me by surprise, but really I’m not surprised at all. Read about the big change at Videomaker’s website:

http://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2013/05/adobe-drops-creative-suite-former-cs-products-now-subscription-only

I use multiple Adobe programs every day — mainly Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Audition, and After Effects — and I also often need Acrobat, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, and a few others. Owning the Master Collection, yearly upgrades could easily cost $600 or more. It’s very important to me that I keep current, as I’m constantly looking for ways to become faster and more efficient.

I wasn’t initially thrilled with the reality of having to deal out a monthly subscription — basically renting their software instead of owning it. But the more I think things over and wrap my head around it, the more I’m in favor of it. The way I see it, I’m getting automatic updates, keeping me current with little effort on my end. The cost is just about the same, as $50/month for a year equals the $600 I had to pay out all at once until now. Plus Adobe is offering additional perks — the 20GB of online storage is my favorite.

There’s been a lot of talk about this, and I’m sure not everyone is dancing in the streets. But I plan on signing up soon to see if it’s worth it.