Time to stop buying expensive software
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:51 am
I'll be buying a new laptop soon...and I've been wondering whether or not I should add on top of the purchase for the new machine any new software. Well, after seeing the pricing on some of the software titles out there today...including Adobe and Microsoft...I'm forced to conclude it's time to start saying goodbye to their product lines.
Adobe Creative Suite 1200 dollars for activating on just one computer.
Microsoft Office Professional 900 dollars for activating on just *one* computer. The box claims its two "devices"...but let's stop kidding ourselves. They mean one desktop and one laptop and that's it. The Student and Home edition claims up to 3 computers per licence but get this...no PowerPoint and no Access. So if you want *those* titles...you're forced to buy them *separately* for 150 dollars each. And those separate copies can only be used on ONE computer.
I currently have Office 2007 on my old system and probably won't be able to use it anymore when I get the new laptop computer. I've been thinking about that for some time now and I've started to warm up to the idea of getting open source software alternatives. In fact, that's exactly what I've done. I've gotten Open Office, AbiWord, Gnumeric, OpenProj, Dia. Oh...as for burning CD/DVDs? I'm using the open source alternative CDBurnerXP...and avoiding the outrageous pricing for Sonic or Nero.
As for replacing my almost total reliance on Adobe products...I've found alternatives to Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. My response to those shockingly expensive and draconian activation nightmare applications are these open source alternatives: Gimp...an up and coming graphic photo application that looks similar to Photoshop and has many of the same tools and capabilities...without the expensive pricing and *no activation* worries. To Adobe's pricing and horrible activation included in InDesign...I've found a worthy alternative - Scribus. This desktop publishing tool offers almost all the tools of the really expensive InDesign and no activation hassles. And for the biggie...which to me is Illustrator...a vector illustration program...open source comes to my rescue with Inkscape.
In my opinion Microsoft and Adobe may be prancing around and preening in front of everybody these days because of their market status and importance to their shareholders. But I think in the long run they're going to disappear in importance because of their greed and need to treat hard working honest people like criminals with draconian activation schemes.
Don't believe me? I've learned through careful study that if you buy one of Adobe's products these days...don't forget to DEACTIVATE your copy before you turn off your computer. Because unless you do this...if your computer crashes the next day you will NOT be able to reinstall your software with the license you purchased dearly when you first got the software. You'll be forced to call Adobe's Call Center somewhere around the globe to explain to someone why they should grant you the ability to reinstall the software you legally purchased. All because of their suspicion that you might be VIOLATING their license terms by installing the software you purchased onto a "different" computer!
Until Microsoft and Adobe change their tune on this activation and outrageous pricing of their software tools...I don't feel the need to bleed myself to death to purchase their very expensive coffee coasters. Because that's exactly what those shiny CDs become once you subscribe to their harsh and brutally intrusive activation traps they force you into. Once you use up the activation on those CDs...they essentially become decoration items for parties. I'm saying good bye to all that...and this conclusion from a long time user of Adobe and Microsoft products. So I'm thankful there are people who've been thinking ahead of Micrsoft and Adobe and offer these alternatives. Because from my point of view...it's safer to use open source alternatives to closed proprietary software controlled by big corporations that apparently don't have your interests in mind.
Adobe Creative Suite 1200 dollars for activating on just one computer.
Microsoft Office Professional 900 dollars for activating on just *one* computer. The box claims its two "devices"...but let's stop kidding ourselves. They mean one desktop and one laptop and that's it. The Student and Home edition claims up to 3 computers per licence but get this...no PowerPoint and no Access. So if you want *those* titles...you're forced to buy them *separately* for 150 dollars each. And those separate copies can only be used on ONE computer.
I currently have Office 2007 on my old system and probably won't be able to use it anymore when I get the new laptop computer. I've been thinking about that for some time now and I've started to warm up to the idea of getting open source software alternatives. In fact, that's exactly what I've done. I've gotten Open Office, AbiWord, Gnumeric, OpenProj, Dia. Oh...as for burning CD/DVDs? I'm using the open source alternative CDBurnerXP...and avoiding the outrageous pricing for Sonic or Nero.
As for replacing my almost total reliance on Adobe products...I've found alternatives to Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. My response to those shockingly expensive and draconian activation nightmare applications are these open source alternatives: Gimp...an up and coming graphic photo application that looks similar to Photoshop and has many of the same tools and capabilities...without the expensive pricing and *no activation* worries. To Adobe's pricing and horrible activation included in InDesign...I've found a worthy alternative - Scribus. This desktop publishing tool offers almost all the tools of the really expensive InDesign and no activation hassles. And for the biggie...which to me is Illustrator...a vector illustration program...open source comes to my rescue with Inkscape.
In my opinion Microsoft and Adobe may be prancing around and preening in front of everybody these days because of their market status and importance to their shareholders. But I think in the long run they're going to disappear in importance because of their greed and need to treat hard working honest people like criminals with draconian activation schemes.
Don't believe me? I've learned through careful study that if you buy one of Adobe's products these days...don't forget to DEACTIVATE your copy before you turn off your computer. Because unless you do this...if your computer crashes the next day you will NOT be able to reinstall your software with the license you purchased dearly when you first got the software. You'll be forced to call Adobe's Call Center somewhere around the globe to explain to someone why they should grant you the ability to reinstall the software you legally purchased. All because of their suspicion that you might be VIOLATING their license terms by installing the software you purchased onto a "different" computer!
Until Microsoft and Adobe change their tune on this activation and outrageous pricing of their software tools...I don't feel the need to bleed myself to death to purchase their very expensive coffee coasters. Because that's exactly what those shiny CDs become once you subscribe to their harsh and brutally intrusive activation traps they force you into. Once you use up the activation on those CDs...they essentially become decoration items for parties. I'm saying good bye to all that...and this conclusion from a long time user of Adobe and Microsoft products. So I'm thankful there are people who've been thinking ahead of Micrsoft and Adobe and offer these alternatives. Because from my point of view...it's safer to use open source alternatives to closed proprietary software controlled by big corporations that apparently don't have your interests in mind.
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