Lightroom 6 - Dead end ?

[digitaldog]

What? In all previous versions of LR, old and new can subsist in parallel.

I don't believe that is true. I recall over the years, the catalog being updated with a new version, the older being left intact and, the catalogs had to be used with their respective version builds.

[RikkFlohr]

You are correct in your recollection, Andrew.

[Mousecop]

It took me 2 minutes to find the "stand-alone" version on the Adobe website and buying an "upgrade" license key was flawless at half the price of a full new version.

So I really don't see what all the fuss (and FUD) is all about.

People are paranoid that Adobe will switch LR to subscription, and are avidly hunting for every possible hint that Evil Adobe will foist subscription licensing on their customers.

[Willibald Fenstermacher]

Perhaps we mere mortals are not worthy ... please forgive my ineptitude ... i bow to your superior intellect and level of sophistication  ... 

If you indeed accomplished the task in two clicks, it is you that deserves some milk ... and a cookies as well.

I think part of the issue here is that your experience on the Adobe.com web site depends a lot on your 'user state'. I am a CC Complete subscriber, and if I'm logged in to my Adobe ID, I don't see the fairly prominent LR6 Standalone box on the main Lightroom page (lower right but not tiny at all). This is standard user experience policy -- i.e. don't show the user things that are probably not relevant to him, if you know who he is. Very common in modern UX design.

If I log out of my Adobe ID and re-load the web page as an anonymous user, the LR6 Standalone box appears. Now, Adobe doesn't know whether I have a CC subscription or not, and it shows me all my buying options. I discovered this difference a few months ago, and I now know to check my signed-in state if I want to know whether Adobe may be tailoring content for me or not.

Adobe also sells its products through different subsidiaries and even independent subcontractors in different parts of the world, so if you are logging on from, say, Timbuktu, and the Timbuktu web sales site wasn't properly coded prior to the LR 6 launch, you may not be seeing a LR6 standalone link, even though you were supposed to -- because the subcontractor made a coding mistake. Also very common in a complex multi-national commerce environment -- bugs like this get sorted out in the first few days after launch, typically.

I am one of those people who was able to find the LR6 standalone link easily on the main Lightroom page, and then quickly navigate the dropdown menus to find the upgrade price ($79). It did indeed take me less than a minute. (I may or may not get LR CC through my subscription; I've been on a perpetual version of LR5 up until now.) But I realize that there are various ways that a different user, hitting the Adobe web site in a different user state, might not see the same things I did.

In other words, everyone may be right!

[john beardsworth]

People are paranoid that Adobe will switch LR to subscription, and are avidly hunting for every possible hint that Evil Adobe will foist subscription licensing on their customers.

Yeah, aren't people paranoid? It's not as if Adobe have done that with the rest of their Creative Suite products, is it? Er....

Specifically for LR, they have said "indefinitely".

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Yeah, aren't people paranoid? It's not as if Adobe have done that with the rest of their Creative Suite products, is it? Er....

Specifically for LR, they have said "indefinitely".

Indeed, without exact limits:
indefinite

They can of course just call it Lightroom 2017 Professional and offer that only on subscription basis, while LR6 remains indefinitely indefinite.

Cheers,
Bart

[ButchM]

I think part of the issue here is that your experience on the Adobe.com web site depends a lot on your 'user state'.

That seems to be the case. I visited adobe.com using another browser from which I have never logged in to my Adobe account and it was much easier to find Lr6 vs Lr CC. If I use my normal browser and am already logged into my Adobe account, it is far more difficult to get there.

Which is perplexing because I have both a Photography CC Package license as well as a Perpetual license for Lr (using the same Adobe ID) ... it seems they wish me to avoid the latter.

[MrIconoclast]

Most likely is that they simply will stop updating the stand alone version, or leave out certain new and  very desirable features. 

But, this has been mentioned many times before, hasn't it.

[Mousecop]

Yeah, aren't people paranoid?

When they are hunting for every possible tiny clue to confirm their terror-stricken belief that one day, Adobe will change the licensing model for a piece of software OMG NOOOO!!! then yeah, they're a bit paranoid.

Or, to put it another way:  Apple didn't make subtle changes to its website, or its purchasing process, before it dropped support for Aperture.  They basically said "hi folks, in 6 months you're screwed."

If they are going to change the licensing, they'll change it.  Reading tea leaves will not give you any additional advance notice.

And if it does change... so what?  The sky will not fall, the earth will not open up and swallow your catalogs whole.  It'll be fine.

[David Luery]

Which is perplexing because I have both a Photography CC Package license as well as a Perpetual license for Lr (using the same Adobe ID) ... it seems they wish me to avoid the latter.

I also have the Photography CC package and perpetual license for Lr.  When I went to install Lr6 upgrade yesterday, Lr told me I needed to enter my Adobe username, etc., which I did, and voila I now see via the Creative Cloud app that I have Lr CC(2015) rather than Lr6 installed.  So I probably wasted $80.

David

[john beardsworth]

@mousecop

Those who don't like subscription software have solid evidence that Adobe might suddenly switch entirely to that model. But yes, there is a kind of hysteria too.

But don't you say anything nasty about Apple. Screwed? Come on, Apple just gave the world Photos....

[ButchM]

So I probably wasted $80.

Not really ... because you have two licenses, you can install the software on more computers. For example I have two desktop computers and two laptops. With two licenses, I have Lr available for use instantly on all four machines, no de-authorizing, re-authoriszing steps, I'm up and running on whichever workstation I choose to employ ...

Also, by having dual licensing, if I should ever decide to drop my CC subscription, I still have an active perpetual license to fall back on.

[indusphoto]

Not really ... because you have two licenses, you can install the software on more computers.

and if you buy a dozen licenses you can install on 24 computer. Won't that be cool!

This is what this thread is about. The Lightroom CC/6 separation is mixed up. If you make you already paying customer pay again (as happened with David) it tells you how mixed up things are.

In a few months time, Adobe will announce that having both subscription and stand-alone versions of Lightroom is causing confusion among customers, so they are forced to drop the paid version in the interest of customers.

[Rick Popham]

I also have the Photography CC package and perpetual license for Lr.  When I went to install Lr6 upgrade yesterday, Lr told me I needed to enter my Adobe username, etc., which I did, and voila I now see via the Creative Cloud app that I have Lr CC(2015) rather than Lr6 installed.  So I probably wasted $80.

David

I did the same thing.  I posted a question on LR Journal which was answered by Jeff Tranberry.  If you try install your LR6 upgrade on an account which has an active subscription which includes LR, it will default to a LR CC installation, giving you no chance to enter your serial number.  Others have successfully tried opening a second account and then buying and installing LR 6 on that account, but Jeff said I would have to quit my CC membership in order to use LR6.

I have asked for a refund, and may try later with a second account.  But now I wonder if LR6 will give me the freedom from internet connection of previous versions.  It seems that LR6 requires you to remain signed into your Adobe account -- not sure if the activation is a one time thing, or if it will require frequent check ins with the mothership.

[digitaldog]

This is what this thread is about. The Lightroom CC/6 separation is mixed up. If you make you already paying customer pay again (as happened with David) it tells you how mixed up things are.

The mixup is caused to some degree by people who rush to get their shiny new copy of LR6 without RTFM:
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/serialize-lightroom-cc-trial-to-activate-as-lightroom-6.html
Or did Adobe have some hidden gun pointing to our heads demanding we hit the Pay button after being forced to enter our credit cards?

[indusphoto]

The mixup is caused to some degree by people who rush to get their shiny new copy of LR6 without RTFM:
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/serialize-lightroom-cc-trial-to-activate-as-lightroom-6.html
Or did Adobe have some hidden gun pointing to our heads demanding we hit the Pay button after being forced to enter our credit cards?

In this day and age, there are no manuals. If your website requires a manual, it belongs to the age of dinosaurs. How many other websites do you recall which require you to read a manual or call neighbor's kid to help you navigate?

And the funny thing is that you will requires a manual to find the manual that you linked to.

[Rick Popham]

The mixup is caused to some degree by people who rush to get their shiny new copy of LR6 without RTFM:
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/serialize-lightroom-cc-trial-to-activate-as-lightroom-6.html
Or did Adobe have some hidden gun pointing to our heads demanding we hit the Pay button after being forced to enter our credit cards?

No guns, but they did offer a perpetual license version that you can't install using an account that has a (LR included) CC subscription associated with it -- that was a surprise.  I finally got this sorted out with Jeff Tranberry.  When I update my laptop I'll create another Adobe ID, buy the LR6 upgrade and install under that account.  It turns out that LR6 only needs a one time activation, so no worries on the laptop.  LR6 is not a dead end for me.

[digitaldog]

In this day and age, there are no manuals.

And people who don't follow instructions, manual or otherwise, impulsively and quickly click on buttons, enter credit cards and so forth get what they get.  

How many other websites do you recall which require you to read a manual or call neighbor's kid to help you navigate?

I have no idea how many people have downloaded, purchased, upgraded LR6 in the last 36 hours but it's pretty clear, while some have had issues, the majority have not (myself included). There are at least hundreds of posts on various forums from people who have done so!
But let's not take any responsibility for this, it's all Adobe's fault.

[CatOne]

It took me 2 minutes to find the "stand-alone" version on the Adobe website and buying an "upgrade" license key was flawless at half the price of a full new version.

So I really don't see what all the fuss (and FUD) is all about.

Well, the "standalone" installer also installs Adobe Application Manager, which is a hot mess. And, once I ran that, it downloaded Adobe Creative Cloud! I'm not kidding; I now have crap-ware all over my system.

This may be because I was a CC member until a couple days ago, so some back-end checking is going on and Adobe is forcing me to get Photoshop CC because I have a CC membership that hasn't expired yet. But I downloaded the "standalone" app and now I have anything but that on my system.

[CatOne]

The mixup is caused to some degree by people who rush to get their shiny new copy of LR6 without RTFM:
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/serialize-lightroom-cc-trial-to-activate-as-lightroom-6.html
Or did Adobe have some hidden gun pointing to our heads demanding we hit the Pay button after being forced to enter our credit cards?

A HA! That was the missing link. Thanks for that, Andrew.

As for the "RTFM", I think that's pretty cheap. Not even the Adobe help people understand this. I do NOT want all the extra stuff installed. I was running Lightroom 5 for 2 years as a CC paying member; I had not installed Photoshop at all (because I didn't want all the CC stuff, and LR had enough adjustments for me). I had no issues downloading LR5 standalone (it's just a single app), and putting it in my /Applications folder, and using the serial number that was auto-granted the first time I signed in to CC (which I then uninstalled).

But LR 6 is TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Even the "standalone installer" forces you to sign in, and then notices you're a CC subscriber and COMPLETELY changes the package it gives you. This is just bizarro: You download one thing, then Adobe is like "Wait, we forced him to sign in, and the sign-in he used is a CC one so he must want something else and BAM, here goes 1 GB of goodies he must want!" Well, no, it's not what I want, but because I deactivated CC but I'm paid through April 30th there was nothing I could do but use an older Adobe login (that I'd forgotten about) so I could serialize the product.

Very strange. I may be an edge case but dumb I'm not, and "RTFM" doesn't really begin to help because this stuff is BURIED in the help.