365 users, would you sign up again?

[johnjbloomfield]

I suppose if you are someone who will always upgrade and they keep releasing a new version annually then it is cheaper than buying a new perpetual license every year for ultimate.

And of course the video editing programs are features beyond what Ultimate does - if you need video of course.

I suppose I could toss my 2¢ in ...

I didn't care for the idea of "cloud storage" for my professional work and see no need for using it for my semi-pro photo work. With the price of quality hard drives pretty low (1Tb drives for $60), it seems to make more sense to provide my own "cloud" under my control and ready access. Furthermore, since I support a web site through what I feel is a reputable company, I already pay for on-line back up should I choose to use it (unlimited storage, unlimited transfers at $8/mo). I've never activated 365 - I don't see what the product offers. Others may have a different opinion.

Even on the road, it's not a lot of trouble to carry a spare hard drive or two around ...

Don't get me wrong, I like the ACDSee Ultimate product. I've used ACDSee since it was 16-bit on Win3 and still consider it my primary - almost exclusively - photo processing tool - but what does 365 offer that perhaps I'm overlooking?

(You know, I find ACDSee comes in handy for non-photo file management as well)

I'm probably also missing something regarding product bundling, but if I have Ultimate, what do the other ACDSee products add to my tool set? I'd like to see the company stick with its main product photo processing and database management - and leave the "cloud" aspects to others ... maybe as a partnership is need be.

[Now that I dig into this, I notice that 365 has changed since I last paid attention - as Glen mentioned. I suppose $89/yr for 5 seats could be a bargain for some, but still, I don't need 5 seats and I don't know what benefit the other programs offer that Ultimate doesn't.]

(I don't use their service so this isn't a plug for the company, but Backblaze has quite a bit of info regarding empirical testing of hard drives in a cloud environment. One of many reports is at http://www.backblaze.com/blog/how-lo...k-drives-last/).

[Busywait]

I've signed up for the Personal Plam in the Black Friday 99c/month deal. It gets me the premium version of the product for less than the upgrade price. I like the software and would want to track the latest features for at least one more version anyway, and if I don't see the annual upgrades as good value then my subscription will expire at "sale" time next year and I can get a perpetual license then.

I'm a bit confused about how many computers I'll be able to run the Personal Plan software on, but I guess I'll find out if 2 is permitted pretty soon

[MareLuce]

Nope. I've been a loyal ACDsee user for eons. (since ACDsee 2? ). I recently bought a new MacBook Pro and wasted a ton of time with the Mac product before realizing it simply doesn't work.

I think it's unethical for ACDsee to sell a product that simply doesn't work. It's well beyond being "buggy". It's totally useless.