Originally posted by Paul the Sunman What We Don’t Know For Sure
For some of the questions, the answers are already known:
Originally posted by Paul the Sunman Will Lightroom Classic CC (or Lightroom 6) be updated any further?
LR 6 (the stand-alone version) will not receive further updates (fact).
Lightroom Classic will receive updates but how smart a name choice is "... Classic" to instil confidence that this isn't a product on the road to extinction?
With sales for serious cameras declining, I'd expect the bean counters at Adobe to pull the plug on "Lightroom Classic" some day. They just stated that running LR6 in parallel to LR CC is "no longer economically viable" for them. If the new "LR CC" takes off, I'd expect Adobe to try and force everyone to it so that they cannot only charge rent for the software but also for the storage space.
Originally posted by Paul the Sunman What will happen when I need to update my operating system and Lightroom 6 no longer works?
You will have to migrate to a subscription-based version of LR (fact).
EDIT: (I previously had to following twisted; I blame Adobe for their utterly confusing naming schemes.
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You won't be able to import LR Classic catalogs into LR6, if you ever decide that the subscription scheme isn't for you anymore. You should be able to export all the editing information in your LR Classic catalogs to XMP files and import those into LR6. This is not equivalent to just converting the catalogs, as some aspects (e.g., virtual copies) will not transfer. Various workarounds (such as storing snapshots for your virtual copies) may make the transfer more complete, though.
Originally posted by Paul the Sunman Will there ever be a perpetual licensed version of Lightroom again?
Not while users believe they are gaining with a subscription-based scheme (personal opinion).
I accept that it works for some, but don't think that it works as well as many think it does for them.
Knowing Adobe, I do not think that they'll revert their decision to kill the perpetual licence scheme (personal opinion). I wouldn't rely on customers voting with their wallets right now, as they haven't done that when the whole subscription-based saga started.
Originally posted by BigMackCam At the very least, I'd say the above means there's no need to panic and/or rush into a different workflow with alternative tools.
There is no need for panicking, that's for sure.
However, I'd think a bit about how long I'd want to add to legacy catalogs instead of investing my future work into a different tool that will still be available with a perpetual licences in the future.