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I hate having to upgrade when I get a new camera just to use a new ACR version.  Hate it.

In most cases that's one of the only reasons to upgrade and they know that. How many more features can they possibly add that justifies the cost?

I just downloaded the Lightroom 4 beta, and without reading the marketing fluff, I can't tell the difference from v3 other than the Map stuff.

So I've had CS5 for 2 months and already there is an upgrade???

Agreed

I think if they were being fair to their customers, there's no technical reason they couldn't offer a lower price ACR only upgrade for people who don't want to upgrade Photoshop. I realize they're just trying to soak the maximum money out of their users, but the last few upgrades have not had that much I found useful. Given the upgrade price (even with a NAPP discount) they're really pushing it, IMO.

This change is not to revert to their old upgrade policy and they haven't yet said what the "special introductory upgrade pricing" will be - i.e. I expect it will be a bit higher than the price for CS5 users. I have CS5, so in a sense it doesn't make any difference, but I dislike Adobe's licensing practices more and more as time goes by. They don't fix bugs at the rate I think they should so you don't get much value for upgrading in that regard.

They don't permit upgrade pricing on platform switches - Corel Painter treats a license as a license so you can use it for Mac or PC without a problem.

If you ever upgrade to the suite but decide it isn't really worth it after that, you can't upgrade just Photoshop (or any other one app) afterwards, only the whole suite.

I'm still using CS2.  It does everything I need it to.  My actions are set and in place, noise reduction software, all that fun stuff.  I think it would be a giant pain in the tail to upgrade and I can't think of any tools I need.  I suppose that makes me an old dog doesn't it?

Still using Lightroom 1.1 too.  That I probably should upgrade at some point in time.  I'm just too much of a tightwad.

I have found that by upgrading lightroom when I get a new camera, I can get the raw functionality, and then just transfer the resulting TIFs into any photoshop version.  Unfortunately, Photoshop will only allow you to install on two computers.  If you get a new one, or have to do a destructive recovery, it's a real hassle to reinstall. 

If you do have to pay for the full version, it's a lot cheaper to get the educational version.  If you have kids in school you qualify.  With my husband a teacher and my daughter in college it makes sense for me. 

Bummer.  I didn't know that.  Seems kind of stupid...

Seems we have a lot of disadvantages with Adobe software compared to Americans, who have access to cheaper copies and discounts via NAPP. It may be that there are discounts here, but other than occasional 'special offers' on adobe.uk's website (often still dearer than amazon), I never see them.

I've wondered out loud here before whether a legal copy of Photoshop, bought over the counter in the US, would even work on my computer, or would they refuse to recognise the serial number?

Though in reality, as well as paying Sales Tax and the other tax (State?) they usually hit you with at the counter in the US, I'd have to pay Import Tax, so would probably end up even worse off than buying it here.

I'n sure you're right.