Adobe announced that it would be discontinuing the boxed versions of its Creative Suite software. The only way to purchase that software from now on will be through a subscription to the company’s Creative Cloud service, which can cost anywhere from $20 a month to $75 a month depending on what software you need and how long you need access to it. Microsoft is another company moving in that direction—with Office 2013, the company began offering subscriptions that allow consumers to install the software on multiple PCs while providing extra SkyDrive storage space. However, Microsoft continues to offer boxed, perpetual-license versions of the software as well, and a post on the Office News blog suggests that this choice won’t be going away any time soon (emphasis ours): Like Adobe, we think subscription software-as-a-service is the future. The benefits to consumers are huge. Subscribers are always up-to-date. They can use subscriptions across the multitude of devices people use today. However, unlike Adobe, we think people’s shift from packaged software to subscription services will take time.
Read the full story at Ars Technica.