Well it concerns the people who make these programs, they don't work for free. Would you like your grocery store to give you free groceries too? I don't see much of a difference from a "subscription" model or a "pay yearly" model, if you guys consider the subscription model as paying monthly? Again, what's the difference, monthly would probably be better as you can quit whenever without having paid a year in advance, its bad if they don't refund your money for the yearly service if you decide to quit it. So monthly or yearly, your still paying for a service you want, just watch out for auto-renewal crap. I just don't like when people think they should get software for free.
Who gets software for free, unless you use open source or a free version of a software - provided by the company/developer? I have mixed free and paid on this laptop. I needed a specific type of software for screenplays, so I bought it (Final Draft) rather than use any of the several free programs available. I chose to purchase Atlantis word processor for novels rather than use their free 'Lite' version. My antimalware is free. My backup software is paid. I could easily have gotten my backup software free by waiting, since Aomei gives the pro version away at least a couple of times a year. I chose to buy. When, or if, MS goes to subscription OS (I don't know that they ever will, just a hunch), I will continue on with Win 8.1 and choose not to feed the monster.
Who actually said they wanted software for free? I buy a piece of software (say version 4) and use that piece of software. If I want to update to a newer version (5) that has more features (or fixes bugs that actually effects me) then I have the freedom to pay for an updated version not be told I have x amount of days / months before the software becomes unusable (ie like Acronis did with True Image).........For anti-virus software, security software etc then fair enough as that is understandable. Overall I'm totally against such shady tactics, so I for one will just simply run such software using RunAsDate (an excellent piece of freeware) or use the Android equivalent (I can't name it as I think it is against this sites rules)......If that fails then blocking such checks via the Host file or outright just download a modified version.
Clip Studio Paint announces subscription plan, angering the online artist community The ‘one-time purchase’ rival to Adobe Photoshop has betrayed its fan base August 22, 2022
Acronis not only turned True Image into a horrible bloated system hogging piece of software but made True Image "ransomware", so you have to keep paying up each year or the software disables certain features. I cannot blame anyone for using cracks / patches etc to bypass / disable such ransomware in software and sure it is probably against this sites rules for mentioning that but I will not (or should any user) be held hostage in such a way. I have the same exact opinion on software that requires online activation. I use methods to bypass / disable them.
Mercedes-Benz cars are getting a $1200/year online subscription... to make them go faster By Usama Jawad @UsamaJawad96 - November 25, 2022 BBC: Mercedes-Benz to introduce acceleration subscription fee
This makes life simpler. Any company doing subscriptions for things that are not service (e.g.: hosting, vpn, etc) = immediate blacklist. I've already emailed a bunch of car manufacturers about their subscription and all-touch dashboards. Similarly, any subscription-only software products, even if I use/used their normal-license versions before, nope. Never. Mrk