Below you find what David Wadwahani Senior Vice President and General Manager, Digital Media Business Unit Adobe Systems Incorporated posted about regards to upgraders.
"For customers who prefer to remain on the current licensing model, we will continue to offer our individual point products and Adobe Creative Suite editions as perpetual licenses. With regards to upgrades, we are changing our policy for perpetual license customers. In order to qualify for upgrade pricing when CS6 releases, customers will need to be on the latest version of our software (either CS5 or CS5.5 editions)."
suource: http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2011/11/adobe-creative-cloud-and- adobe-creative-suite-new-choices-for-customers.html
What did senior vice president Adobe Systems wrote two years ago about future of Creative Suite product line?
"So Adobe decided to ship major milestone releases of Adobe Creative Suite software approximately every two years, with mid-cycle releases"
source: http://www.adobe.com/inspire-archive/may2011/articles/article1/index.h tml?PID=2159997
Now, we are two years after cited statment. Adobe, where we can find possibility to upgrade ours perpetual licences to mid-cycle version 6.5? Adobe where is new Creative Suite realease? Adobe suddenly decided to not ship major releases of Adobe Creative Suite Software. Adobe decided to kill Creative Suite product line with no any prior announcement.
When Adobe introduced one version back upgrade policy they notified publicity many months before this change. Now we see that Adobe kills Creative Suite product line without any prior announcment (killing CS perpetual licencens by renaming).
I think this unfair treatment to loyal customers and consumers will be a task for a lawyers in many countries and anti-monopolly government institutions.
Many people upgraded their CS2/3/4/5/ Creative Suites to CS6 version to retain possibilites to upgrade it to CS6 or CS6.5/7 when it ships according to one version back upgrade policy and according to quoted Adobe statements. Today Adobe says: people who bought upgrade to actual perpetual licence to retain possibility to upgrade their suites CS6.5 are not alllowed to this upgrade. Verry commical and tragical.
Adobe may not say that one version back upgrade policy concerns only CS6 because it is unfair and between lines suggested customers that Creative Suite product line will be continued.
Look again at headline from official Adobe blog. "Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Creative Suite: New Choices for Customers". That means "new choices" but does not mean "no choices".
This is very unfair Adobe policy.