Adobe killed my Photoshop, my software, and my wallet.

Haven't been on in a long time, but I thought I would share for others that might use their Photoshop less regularly.

I have kept my Photoshop CC subscription at CC 2018 with Windows 7. Reason being is that anytime you move forward in a new version there is the potential of losing your plug-in software because it is no longer compatible. 2018 was the last update I did, I lost a few softwares, but everything I NEEDED I was able to bring forward so I stayed at 2018 - it all works and not broken. Now, per the Adobe people, CC will no longer allow anything to work pre Win 10. Your subscription can't communicate so it shuts down.

To continue with Photoshop I have to pay $200 for Win 10 and quite likely lose all my accompanying software - more than 10 years of accumulated software.

Anyway, I thought I would share for anyone else that doesn't get in Photoshop that often to share that you might be in for a big expensive surprise. No longer will I recommend Photoshop.

I am no computer expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I will share this in the hope it eases your worries.

We also had Win 7 on our computer for several years. I have Photoshop Elements 2016 and several music recording/editing software programs. My wife uses TurboTax to do our taxes each year, and last year, the 2020 program required Win 10. I was very hesitant to upgrade, and even contemplated buying a second computer so I could keep Win 7. Our son (aerospace and mechanical engineer) convinced us it would be OK to upgrade.

The upgrade went well, and in the end, all of my programs still work. Apparently, Win 10 is friendly and plays well with others. Still - Back Everything Up on an external hard drive before you upgrade.

Your mileage may vary. Good luck.

@hark Cindy anything you can add?

Link to Cindy's windows 7 posts.
https://nikonites.com/post-processing/45689-photoshop-cc-windows-7-a.html?highlight=Windows

Maybe a different perspective is that Microsoft is(should) be the focus of your angst? They're the one that abandoned their operating system, and forced all the vendors to change their support structures.

@Moab Man - recently I had the same problem. Windows 7 with PCC 2018, 2017, and 2015. First make sure you have the latest Windows 7 updates. During my first phone call, they told me to download the remaining ones. I think there were around 55. I was afraid Windows 10 would download automatically, but the lady assured me it wouldn't...and it didn't. Three updates failed despite multiple attempts. During both phone calls to Adobe, I had to do screen sharing sessions.

And during the first call/screen sharing session, the woman took to me a web page showing Windows 10 is what's supported for the older versions of Photoshop. I was really ticked because this PC can't support Windows 10. But before the first call ended, she said not to worry and that there was something else they could do. But first I had to do the remaining Windows 7 updates.

A day later, Adobe sent me an email letting me know the support for my case would remain open for 3 days before they'd close it. So I downloaded those updates. PCC still failed to automatically verify it was a legit copy so I placed a second call two days later.

This time I had a guy - and I was really ticked going into the call since the first woman said I'd have to upgrade to Windows 10. He was really nice and assured me I wouldn't need to do the upgrade. We proceeded to do another screen sharing session. This time he made several quick clicks to open something and either checked or unchecked boxes. So of course I wanted to know what changes he was making....

He went on to explain Microsoft changed some things in their internet access which blocked all Adobe software from being able to automatically update. At some point, Microsoft then made a patch to fix this. He had to go in and access that area of internet connection. He downloaded a newer version of Creative Cloud (can't remember if it was before or after I had to reboot my PC). Then I was almost on the verge of venting because my PC can't handle anything beyond PCC 2018. I was afraid he'd try to download these newer versions. Once again he calmly said not to worry...I didn't need to download any Photoshop updates.

He stayed on the phone with me. Once my PC rebooted, our screen sharing session automatically connected again. He may have accessed Creative Cloud at this point. Eventually he opened PCC 2017 simply because I have a shortcut in the taskbar. It opened without any prompt to verify, and I haven't had any issues since.

By the way, if you chose to be notified via email about any new responses, that system isn't working, Moab Man. So please check back periodically to see if there are any new replies.

FredKingston said:

Maybe a different perspective is that Microsoft is(should) be the focus of your angst? They're the one that abandoned their operating system, and forced all the vendors to change their support structures.

Click to expand...

Windows 7 was introduced in 2009 and became no longer supported in 2020. I know people who have "upgraded" their cars 5 times in that same period. Given the pervasiveness of cyber attacks, the threat of ransomware, and the widespread use of the OS, maybe your idea of "angst" is better defined as "inconvenience"? I drive cars into the ground. I'm still on an iPhone 7. So I get that no one likes to abandon tech before they're done wearing it out. But progress happens for a reason, and the cost of maintaining older tech involves not just support but the cost of vulnerability.

That said, I've not had to pay for a macOS upgrade in 9 years and I've done a number of them.

I was trying to be gentle in my characterization. I too am on Apple's ecosystem, and generally just chuckle as folks that are not technologically entrenched place blame in the wrong places for their system's difficulties.

I feel your pain. I hate doing software updates when everything is working as I want it to. I agree with others here, that the real blame needs to be placed with Microsoft. Also, though, time marches on and all of our software and hardware has a limited lifetime. It's a bummer, and I hate it, but the advantages of new software are real and worth the difficulties involved.

I speak as somebody who is still using a PC built in 2010 as my main photo-editing station. It was pre-loaded with Win7. But I upgraded it to Win 10 during the 1 year free upgrade cycle all those years ago. Win10 was a good OS and a worthy successor to Win7. Only personal fear of change or some odd hardware requirement perhaps held you back?

This is timely though. Windows 11 is rolling out. I have already upgraded my laptop PC to that (was a no-brainer, I had just purchased it new a couple of months ago and it was fully ready). I cannot update that 2010 PC, the "security chip" hardware is not present. Otherwise the hardware exceeds Windows 11 requirements. There is a certain validity to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but only to a point. Being reminded of just how old my Win10 PC is now, it will be replaced. I may wait 12-18 months, but it will happen. I don't want to be "that guy" complaining that no hardware drivers are written for Windows XP anymore.

While some of us are blaming Microsoft, let's not forget to blame the criminals and criminal enterprises that are forcing some changes to software in order to improve system security.