CC goes from ok for pro's, mediocre for hobby'ist, to very good for the 99%

[MikeChambers]

PS - I've got an Adobe Customer Service online chat transcript that says I get to keep my existing licences (CS5 and LR5) if I sign up to CC, and can use them again if ever I leave CC, but I'm looking for confirmation of that. 

That is correct. Becoming a Creative Cloud member doesn't affecting your existing perpetual licenses. If you leave Creative Cloud your existing perpetual software will continue work.

mike chambers

mesh@adobe.com

[Simon Garrett]

That is correct. Becoming a Creative Cloud member doesn't affecting your existing perpetual licenses. If you leave Creative Cloud your existing perpetual software will continue work.

mike chambers

mesh@adobe.com

Thanks Mike.

As I say, consumer judgements of value of different purchase models are not always rational.  Safety nets are important.  Simply knowing that I could leave the CC subscription and still use the perpetual licence version of CS5 is psychologically important.

To Andrew: I expressed my earlier comment badly.  The issue I meant to say is that if you cancel a subscription to a magazine, you can still "use" the versions you've bought.  If you cancel a software subscription, you can't use it at all. 

It's buyer's prerogative to like or dislike software rental, or anything else for that matter.  You may think they're being completely stupid, but hey, it's their money.    Personally I don't like software rental, and I'll want to convince myself that I'm getting a really good deal, and have my safety nets in place (comfort blankets, if you like).

[madmanchan]

Understood, Simon.  I recognize that having the "safety net" is important -- independent of whether or not you end up actually using it.  As I indicated in another thread, you'll be able to continue to view/convert/print your images in older perpetual versions of Ps, as well as Lightroom.  Whether or not you'll be able to edit the individual components of the images in those older Ps versions will depend on what Ps features are used in those documents.