Unfortunate issues... Its time I move on.

from WinCustomize Forums

Unfortunately Adobe has turned off the Activation servers for photoshop cs5 at some point. I no longer have access to using the software I paid for and customer support did nothing to help other than try to shove a subscription at me. I told them no I want to use the software I paid for as it still works 100% on windows 10/11 systems. I had a bunch of scripts and tools to help automate a lot of processes in it that I cant do elsewhere and I have a bunch of PSD project files I can no longer open up... No other software matches photoshop. I have tried them all and they all just dont do it for me. Affinity photo is the closest it came to photoshop workflow but their stance on image cropping is just not it for me (You can just select an area and crop to that selection as they are heavy on the "Non Destructive" workflow and requires it to pasted on a new file. Yuck... ). Gimp is not there either. Along with microsoft blocking updates while using certain apps is also speeding up my needs to ditch windows. So I have decided to just move on from this stuff as its no longer feasible for me to continue pursuing. The subscription of creative cloud is not worth the price and you get penalized for canceling the service early. A bit scummy if you ask me. Good luck to those who stick around with windows...

everything else
97,015 views 17 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Sory to hear this, seems like a lot of companies are becoming incompetent and /or highly unprofessional lately. :-(

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Sorry to hear, William. Loved the skinning you did, as did many of our members. I wish you luck in all your future pursuits.  🖖🏻

TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

My brother has this subscription and it is the cheapest way to get Photoshop.

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Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting pelaird, reply 3

My brother has this subscription and it is the cheapest way to get Photoshop.


 

Thats a subscription. What Im trying to avoid. I was using photoshop as a hobbyist. Thats not feasible with subscription cost. They also charge you for canceling your month to month payments (treat it like its a annual subscription). That company will never see a single cent from me ever again.

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Almost all I do is via PSP6 [I'm in the dark ages...but I know how to use it].... but now and then I get out Photoshop ....but that's also ancient [5].

PS is the industry standard.....but I've never been standard...;)

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Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

If Adobe have stopped the activation servers and you own a licence then I think that might be the one time you could justify using a crack on the version you have as you have fulfilled your side of the bargain and they are not.

With regards to Microsoft blocking apps, this is specific to apps which opted to modify the OS to use disabled functionality which has now been removed hence blocking them as otherwise it causes customer issues.

Start11 does not work like that so should not be blocked or impacted by this.  That's why Start11 does not offer certain features as we knew this would be coming eventually.

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Reply #7 from GalCiv4 Forums Top

As I understand it, Adobe has bought every company (or tried very hard to buy) that made any sort of competition to Photoshop. As such, there isn't very many alternatives. On top of that, they make more money on subscriptions than with licenses. The environment doesn't allow for casual users.

Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting DivineWrath, reply 7

As I understand it, Adobe has bought every company (or tried very hard to buy) that made any sort of competition to Photoshop. As such, there isn't very many alternatives. On top of that, they make more money on subscriptions than with licenses. The environment doesn't allow for casual users.

Don't think they've bought Corel at least. I have been using Paint Shop Pro since Version 6 and have stuck with Version 11 since it came out, don't like the newer versions they came up with after that.

Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Neil, reply 6

If Adobe have stopped the activation servers and you own a licence then I think that might be the one time you could justify using a crack on the version you have as you have fulfilled your side of the bargain and they are not.

With regards to Microsoft blocking apps, this is specific to apps which opted to modify the OS to use disabled functionality which has now been removed hence blocking them as otherwise it causes customer issues.

Start11 does not work like that so should not be blocked or impacted by this.  That's why Start11 does not offer certain features as we knew this would be coming eventually.

 

I did wind up buying affinity photo 2 last night, they added crop to selection as of version 2.3 years after I last used v1. Only thing I miss now is my scripts to make the layers into strips of icons (I can use this but its so much more work than a single click that I had in PS.) for use with windowblinds and the transform tool to stretch a selection by nearest neighbor. Its an ok replacement for now but im going to have to relearn a whole new program just to get back to where I was at with photoshop :/

Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I can understand how you feel, Simplex.  Whatever you decide to do, I wish you all the best. It seems to me that some of these companies don't want to give us options. For example, Microsoft arbitrarily made my version of windows calendar unusable, and wants me to move to Outlook. This is a big reason why I refuse to migrate to Windows 11. Agree or disagree, it's my way of maintaining some freedom and control over Microsoft's tendency to arbitarily take my choices away. 

Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top

Adobe pulled the same sh*t with Acrobat licenses 2-3 years ago.  You were good until you needed to reinstall for any reason.  They are evil.

As an aside. I'm still using PSP6 as well.  Between that and MSPaint, my graphics needs are met. though I don't skin anymore.

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

Woke up yesterday to find Ps beta didn't work anymore. No explanation. No warning. Best I can figure is my Photography plan doesn't include it, as the Creative Cloud app doesn't have Beta apps in the left hand column anymore.

Very strange way to conduct business. Would have thought a "If you wish to continue using Ps beta you must upgrade your current plan." type of pop up would be in order.

Oh well. 🤷

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Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 12

Woke up yesterday to find Ps beta didn't work anymore. No expla

Typical Adobe move.>:(  

Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top

let's not even talk about the shit Broadcom is doing with VMWare licensing....

Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Phoon, reply 14

let's not even talk about the shit Broadcom is doing with VMWare licensing....

man they better not mess with my license. I use that to test my themes on win 10/11. haha

Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Phoon, reply 14

let's not even talk about the shit Broadcom is doing with VMWare licensing....

Broadcom backs down on VMware pricing rules as EU begins investigation following complaints

from: techRadar Pro 04/16/2024

https://www.techradar.com/pro/broadcom-backs-down-on-vmware-pricing-rules-as-eu-begins-investigation-following-complaints

 

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Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting SimplexDesigns, reply 15


Quoting Phoon,
reply 14

let's not even talk about the shit Broadcom is doing with VMWare licensing....



man they better not mess with my license. I use that to test my themes on win 10/11. haha

You're safe with VMWare Workstation... it's vSPhere/esxi that's going to cause rectal bleeding...