Except Adobe’s is a subscription so it makes sense to verify if one’s license is still valid, while DxO PL is supposed to be perpetual and should require only one verification.
My guess is, they want to prevent:
People from using it on multiple devices (like a maximum of 3) at the same time, by having two of them always offline.
Or by having DxO resetting the license, continue to use the software offline on the old PCs while activating on new ones.
But if I am the bad customer, the easier way will just be getting a pirated copy to begin with, so I don’t have to keep my computers offline. There are likely other considerations, but naively seeing it, this new measure does not appear effective against piracy but only impacts those who actually paid.
You would probably see the message Your license file could not be validated since your system clock has been tampered with.
which is in DxO.PhotoLab.Activation.dll (Win).
Adobe cost is how much cloud storage you have, the 20gb for Ps/Lr is 13$/month while 1tb is 26$/month (depending on your country). so if you take the 20gb then it’s about same price of PL but for Ps and Lr on desktop/ipad/mobile and you can also work non destructive with nik collection which is now dxo software that still can’t work non destructive from PL.
at the end of the day, your money, your work and which software you need to achieve your goal.
Bumping this comment because I do believe it has been around for quite some time, and this was for version 6! In fact I am going to Namibia again next month so will test it again with both version 6 and 7.
On1 hasn’t switched to a rental model; they have both options. You can subscribe if you want the Adobe strategy of paying monthly and getting all updates or you can buy a perpetual license and only get updates until the next major release (just like DXO). I recently bought an On1 perpetual license so I know it’s still offered.
In my email this morning I received a promo advert from ON1. I have attached screenshots of (1) the advertised price in USD from the checkout page, and (2) the full advert splash with information on available services at the bottom. Note that I did not purchase a license. In neither location do I find the “fine print” as to whether this was to be a perpetual purchased license or a rental. If you can find these terms and conditions anywhere on the pages for which I have provided screenshots, please correct me.
As mentioned above, the Adobe rental uses a “cloud” based storage model. A “cloud” is a possibly worldwide distributed computing storage model. The primary advantage of this model is increased revenue and possibly profits/profiteering for the cloud-services provider, along with the revenue for the ISP and network provider (both of these typically distinct from the cloud-services – distributed computing – provider). The primary disadvantages of this model are (1): for copyrighted intellectual property storage is that the rules of use and ownership of the intellectual property depend upon which nation or entity in which the physical store is placed. Thus if a duplicated (redundant) copy exists in nation B, that copy is subject to the rules of nation B, even if the owner thinks she/he is using nation A. AND (2): one is always dependent upon the access to the Internet where one is located, both in terms of available throughput (that is zero in areas without connectivity) and material that is allowed to be transmitted over the Internet where one might happen to be working. Censorship and control (such as in the PRC) is present in many parts of the world; not everyone is in the EU. Thus, one may have no access to what is being stored in the Adobe cloud.
It might be beneficial for DxO if they explained a little bit around the strategy and philosophy regarding the change of their license management.
Uncertainty and assumptions are a not a brands best friends and clarity would help them. Straight up telling the heir customers what the plan is and how it will affect us customers - for better and worse - is far more trustworthy than refraining from doing it.
Blackmagic for example offer their Resolve/Fusion Studio software license in three flavours.
Either a license key to enable two concurrent installs which manually can be uninstalled ( a third install resets both previous ones) or a hardware usb key for those on systems not on the internet or moving around systems.
None of these “times out” without internet connectivity.
The third option is a short term license for studios to rent in volume when need for a specific timeframe of work in a project.
There are many ways of doing things but clarity and transparency are key elements to calm customers.
But I have a holistic view on things and cant do more than express my worries about this to DxO but then it’s their business decisson to make and I can choose to accept it and continue along or I can choose a different path.
I really want to continue and hope they offer us all a sustainable solution for us as well as for them to do so.
And it would be nice if they explain too why they are getting non-anonymous informations (it seems they have id for users) - link above - without warning and without giving the user the choice of whether or not to provide those informations (as I believe the law requires in many countries). And tell what those informations are (precisely, not vaguely) and what they do with them.
Anyway I have to choose my boat, and I’ll see this when v8 is released.
Will DxO let and put functionalities asked by users for photolab in other products to force the sale of these products ? (luma mask in V7) - (I have FP4 and know it’s no use for me *).
What will happen with this obligation to connect, which is incompatible with the notion of perpetual license for several reasons ? (the risk of bankruptcy being the most obvious - the circus we have seen this year seems to plead in favor of the plausibility of this hypothesis). And this obligation is impossible to accept if you spend long periods of time in certain countries.
Is it possible to know what information DxO is extracting from users and for what purpose ?
These 3 points are among those that will weigh most heavily in the balance.
And I know other people (lot of I would say) concerned by this.
*(EDIT : except contrast sliders, but I paid for them several years ago and do not want to pay twice to get functionalities asked for photolab. Never !).
