Welcome to walled gardens!

[jefubbudu]

Welcome to walled gardens! Buy a new computer, and then you can pay for software you don't own AND use it! Because you know, these reason you can't just download an old version, or update your OS is to protect the public's experience of the product. Can't have you unable to find support for something a decade old, and it would be terrible if for some reason your version didn't have all of the changes that the new version does. After all, they worked real hard on that and lots of investors clapped.

Really though, there is a reason I don't suggest this combo to my friends and colleagues. Having two ecosystems which both limit versioning in different ways is a fast way to get your workflow nuked. The fact that you lose access to things you've previously been able to have is also a crying shame. I'm still on CS6 because perpetual lisence, and it's running faster and smoother than anything AE 2017+... and I suspect it"'s half because my computer is a 2017, and because adobe software is famous for bloat and poor usage of novel hardware.

Mod note: Branched and moved to the Video Lounge. Title was changed.

[jefubbudu]

That's the neat part, you're not allowed to! You don't own AE so Adobe can tell you what versions you are and aren't allowed to use! Oh you had plugins like trapcode for AE 2014? Too bad.

If you want older versions of software you need to look for open source or a company with better customer service... or one that will do the bare minimum to make itself attractive for a real company or power user.

[kglad]

if you install an older version (and don't uninstall it) you can continue to use it when adobe no longer offers it.  of course that doesn't diminish this threads point.

[jefubbudu]

My point stands. I am allowed to use it because I did exactly that. They are not. Glory to adobe, for deeming me so righteous that others are not allowed to use the versions I do, simply because I was more loyal. 

[kglad]

i don't really understand the restriction to the last two versions.

[jefubbudu]

I don't understand any restriction at all. What's so bad about offering any version someone might want? After all, many plugins and so on have not been updated for newer versions.

[kglad]

i don't see how offering older versions (without offering support) has any downside (other than requiring servers to store the files) and has an upside to adobe's bottom-line.  but despite more than a few or us community experts making our pleas, adobe hasn't budged from its decision.

[jefubbudu]

There is no downside to users if the company does that.

But there's a downside to adobe.

It means:

every update they make would have to be compelling, and worth any friction new features cause.

It would mean people with older computers would use older versions  meaning more complaints about bloat and speed when people realize "wait I don't use new features, and how did it get slower?"

It would mean they are infringing on old contracts, because they get licences to add features, and those licesnces wear off (adobe infringed them before, and sent out emails threatening legal action to get users to stop using those versions twice before)

It would mean their new features and versions are less used and tested, and their software is already too buggy for their team to bugtest alone,

They wouldn't be able to use the analytics of downloads and usage easily, or tell shareholders people are moving to the new version because people like long term support versions

New versions have new features- if people don't move over, people would get in trouble for a poor release I suspect

AI is just one of those new features, but most artists I know avoid it like the plague. This is their way of "put them in a room till something happens" ing.

Etc.

Basically, it's Adobe's way to sweep technical debt under the rug a bit deeper. If users wanted all the updates, and had no trouble running newer versions, and adobe actually developed their software rather than acqauiring pieces from everywhere, there would be no issue. 

And they won't change, because keeping investors and shareholders clapping, avoiding old lawsuits from bad moves, and forcing users to engage is more important... because let's face it. Adobe's bottom line is all about drawing in people who forget they're paying, so promising fancy new shinies is their entire business model.

[kglad]

adobe swept technical debt away long ago when they stated there's no support for older versions.

and there's a major downside for users that lose their older versions or start a subscription with an older computer and can't use recent versions..

[jefubbudu]

Technical debt doesn't go away. On last check there were over 400 addons that ship built in, addons that could now be core functonality. The fact that most effects don't use GPU is technical debt, the entire RAM preview systwm hasn't been chamged much from the early 2000's, or at all from 2013, despite there being new technologies to do that thing. After effects still frontloads 90% of its everything into one core, because changing this pile of spaghetti code into something modular and easily multithreaded is a task fit for a diety, not a crew of 14 working on software that's older than half of them. There have been so many fixes over the years that were meant to be temporary but aren't, heck, they redid the UI... and it STILL doesn't properly assign itself a different thread than the core operations thread. I would say to just put the core functions and UI on their own threads, so no matter what the UI is snappy and rendering doesn't slow down RAM previews or caching but nooooo.

That's technical debt. All the ways the world changed around them, and all the ways they made temporary changes that became permanent.

https://youtu.be/aVNCgmAsI8c?si=_St5DWMplEaGBbb4&t=1840

Said really well here at this timestamp

[kglad]

i misunderstood what you meant by technical debt.  i meant adobe denies responsibility for problems with older versions and offers no help with older versions.

[jefubbudu]

Which is also ironic, because the software has not changed significantly enough to warrant a new troubleshooting guide in a decade.

[kglad]

i don't think that's a factor for adobe, but then i don't understand a lot of what adobe does.

[jefubbudu]

It's not, but they pretend it is. There is no factor that makes any sense, realistically  besides someone needs to make their position seem important, or that the only people the updates are for, are investors.

[kglad]

investors would want older subscription versions to be available.

[jefubbudu]

They would. However, that is just one thing. You can impress them with a new UI or minor set of unnecessary features every year!

[jefubbudu]

Welcome to Adobe™ You pay, they provide* the agreed⁵ on service(s)'**