14 ms·

Can't uninstall Adobe apps without an account (2018)

312 points by sings 6y ago

anothernewdude 6y ago
They've really upped their malware game recently. Even if unintentional, this sort of dark pattern shows incompetence, otherwise it's malfeasance. Happily the response as a consumer is the same.
- mstipetic 6y ago
  Average consumers don't care. But some PM can say they've "increased engagement and daily active users"
varispeed 6y ago
I think these kind of practices get regulated. There is absolutely no need for apps like Photoshop to be constantly online and spy on users. I think it should be illegal for the application to stay online if there is no legitimate need for it, I also hope that GDPR legislation will be extended to apps, as it seems they can just pull as much personal data as they like without any user control.
- laurent92 6y ago
  That is an interesting take. Can law regulate which apps remain in the background, how many executables they install, how much data they are allowed to leave behind? Is this really desirable? The law would have to differentiate servers from desktops, for starters.
  - varispeed 6y ago
    Well, that's something to debate, but I am sure this is getting out of hand. Now every application has some sort of Application Manager that requires computer to be online in order to enable access to the app (some require to be online once a week etc.) and these managers send who knows what to their servers. I think for starters it should be illegal to require user to install such managers in order to have access to their app or at very least give an option for offline authorisation. There is no reason for such apps to exist other than to spy on users.
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  GDPR technically does apply to apps, and in fact already covers what you're saying. The principle of "data minimisation" (https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/principles/data-minimisation/ https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protectio...) means you should only collect the minimum amount of data required for a particular purpose, so in theory an app shouldn't be able to spy on you and call home all the time for the purposes of software licensing when something much less intrusive can suffice. Similarly, there is no valid reason why you should be forced to sign into an account to uninstall a piece of software. In reality though, the GDPR is not being enforced seriously and the same organization linked above who is writing those guidelines is completely incompetent at actually enforcing them.
  - varispeed 6y ago
    You see I would be happy to make GDPR complaint about some apps, but I don't want to lose access to them. I am sure if I started something like this, they would just remove access and some of those apps don't have alternatives.
- m463 6y ago
  unfortunately last I looked at the california CCPA, it only applied to companies with greater $25m in revenue AND at least half of the revenue was advertising. Don't know what the updated CCPA will change in 2 years.
knlam 6y ago
The adobe apps acted like malware. Open your TaskManager(Activity Monitor on Mac) to see how much craps run on your computer when you installed Creative Cloud.
- agys 6y ago
  They even wrote their own “Cleaner tool”: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-in...
  - willejs 6y ago
    I wish I knew this existed the other day, I spent about 10 minutes tracing all the crapware creative cloud had installed onto my macbook and deleted it. Some of it was using 5% cpu occationally, to do what?
    - Algent 6y ago
      Last time I needed it even their cleanup tool didn't manage to completely remove everything. We ended up reinstalling the whole machine to fix it.
  - Daho0n 6y ago
    Which put them in class with such esteemed companies as McAfee and EA Games, both who also need cleaners to clean up crap after install often enough to have cleaners in their soft/malware.
- jerrygoyal 6y ago
  as a windows user, killing adobe from autostart can't be done from task manager "start-up apps" tab. I need to go to resource manager sort entries by auto-start and look for all adobe based processes (it's more than one) and then set them to "run manually". and I'm still not sure If I have completely disabled adobe apps from running passively in background.
  - 6y ago
jansan 6y ago
Also, you also cannot install old Adobe apps anymore. I have a full version of Illustrator CS2 that I paid about 500€ for, but cannot install it because it needs to be activated and Adobe shut their licensing servers down.
- 2rsf 6y ago
  For a while they used to give away a license-less version of those CS2 products, try searching maybe you can still get them.
  - ddorian43 6y ago
    I've heard they give away license-less versions on piratebay.
    - jansan 6y ago
      So I have to go to piratebay in order to run the software that I fully paid for? That cannot be the solution.
      - ddorian43 6y ago
        Happens often and it will increase in occurrence.
    - 2rsf 6y ago
      the Adobe one is legal though, some people actually need that
  - jansan 6y ago
    Yes, I already did some research and found it. The software can be downloaded here: https://www.chip.de/downloads/Adobe-Illustrator-CS2-Vollversion_59763474.html And the licensing codes can be found via archive.fo: https://archive.fo/255q5 But officially Adobe does not want me to install my old software anymore.
eyeswideopen 6y ago
As an OSX User i have 32 (!) rules in my LULU Firewall preventing Adobe to call home, which says a lot
- iaml 6y ago
  When I still was cc subscriber I blocked a lot of its telemetry but apparently their developers are unfamiliar with a concept of using exponential backoff for retries so it was just spamming requests every second.
  - tinus_hn 6y ago
    If you block their incoming syn-ack packets instead, their apps start a denial of service attack on their own servers!
- augustk 6y ago
  As a Debian user I have zero issues with Adobe since I don't use or need any of their products.
  - Daho0n 6y ago
    Please don't.
parkersweb 6y ago
This was actually quite an issue when my father-in-law died and his wife wanted to continue to use the computer. It was only because I have an Adobe ID of my own that I was able to resolve it by temporarily licensing it under my subscription....
pupdogg 6y ago
I've always associated efficiency of a program by its package size and with this mindset, Adobe Suite would be on the bottom of my list as being the most inefficient set of programs in modern times (proof: https://imgur.com/a/G1nJn7H https://imgur.com/a/G1nJn7H). I mean come on, 7.53GB for Adobe Acrobat? Then they tell you that your install base is bloated and you can save space by uninstalling/reinstalling it. As of recently, I find myself using Figma more and more becuase I don't want to wait for the counter Adobe program to load. SMH! I hope someone from Adobe is reading. FYI, WinAmp v2.8 is not #1 but high on the same list for being a butt kicker for its package size!
mstipetic 6y ago
I don't know how we got to this state that we don't control our own basic processes and how they behave. Just off the top of my head right now on osx: can't shut down creative cloud app from the app bar, can't shut down webex, docker desktop regularly hijacks everything I'm doing (once when having a presentation in front of 100 people) to show there's an update, steam client jumping in the tray for hours unless I acknowledge there's an update, apps registering to be started on boot by themselves and having to go through a convoluted process to turn it off (if it even exists)...
- mrweasel 6y ago
  Can’t close Chrome either, because that will exit Google Chat as well.
- Blikkentrekker 6y ago
  > I don't know how we got to this state that we don't control our own basic processes and how they behave. If the system be designed such that the task of uninstalling lies with the program itself rather than some other program then one never really did. I understand this design not. I would assume that uninstalling the program means deleting some set of files and perhaps registry keys on Windows, or is there more to it?
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  It's one argument in favor of having the OS determine how software is in- and uninstalled, instead of delegating it to an application supplied by the developer. I mean in theory on Mac you can just remove the .app file. I would like the 'profile' files for an application to be a bit more obvious though, e.g. stored in /Users/<username>/Application Data/Adobe instead of the deeply nested and hidden-by-default Library folder.
  - sbuk 6y ago
    There are apps like App Delete that help there. Once installed, it can detect an app in the trash and remove the hidden parts too. That said, it would be helpful if this was built in...
mattlutze 6y ago
I uninstalled Creative Cloud from my PC last week and my oh my, did it feel like I was transported back to e.g. 2007. I emotionally recoil from businesses whose only remaining competition moat is "we make it hard to get rid of our stuff"
skyfantom 6y ago
I think I would like to use Photoshop. But Creative Cloud stops me, once upon a time I was needed to delete Adobe apps from PC and it was a nightmare. Nowadays you can't install Adobe apps without Creative Cloud.
- eertami 6y ago
  My plan is to keep using Photoshop CS6 for as long as my computer will let me. There aren't any CC features that I feel a compelling need to use.
  - m463 6y ago
    Make good bit-level backups.
    - eertami 6y ago
      I still have the installer so I'm not too worried about that.
- forgingahead 6y ago
  Have you tried GIMP? Haven't used Photoshop in ages, but GIMP can open PSD files, so hopefully it's close enough to functionality to replace Photoshop. https://www.gimp.org/downloads/ https://www.gimp.org/downloads/
  - kogepathic 6y ago
    Have you tried Photopea? Photopea can also open PSD files, and it runs entirely in a browser so it's suitable for using on a Chromebook. https://www.photopea.com/ https://www.photopea.com/
  - cerved 6y ago
    GIMP is a useable FOSS alternative but sucks when compared to Photoshop if you're using it professionally
m463 6y ago
You know what app vendor I really like? The Omni Group. They are pretty much the epitome of "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar". They even offer their products with a subscription - and I would consider it! They let you purchase your apps for real, they're not forcing anything, and then I think I should support their efforts. Additionally their licensing is: buy a license, type in your code, your program works. You can use your personal license on all your machines and they trust you. Last they allow you to save your data to "the cloud", but don't force it. And "the cloud" means you can conveniently store it on their server, or on your own or someone else's webdav server. More people should follow their good example. (and remember, with trust, commerce is unlimited)
- Hallucinaut 6y ago
  I can't tell whether this is satire, shilling or an honest-to-goodness review. The generic nature reads like the kind of virtuous extolling I'd hear from an NPC in Fallout or the like.
  - pjc50 6y ago
    Especially since they're called the "Omni Group", an extremely generic name.
    - devoutsalsa 6y ago
      They're the people behind OmniGraffle.
    - protomyth 6y ago
      They are a long time NeXT and then OS X developer. https://www.omnigroup.com/ https://www.omnigroup.com/
    - dewey 6y ago
      They are pretty well known under that name and you'd hear them referred to the "Omni Group" in a lot of Apple focused podcasts.
    - 6y ago
string 6y ago
I try to avoid Adobe like the plague these days. It's not always easy, but thankfully it's getting easier. As nobody has mentioned them yet, I would highly recommend Affinity products as alternatives to Adobe software. Coupled with Sketch, I've been able to avoid Adobe products for 2+ years now. Affinity have replacements for Photoshop (Photo), InDesign (Publisher) and Illustrator (Designer), currently on sale for not too far off the cost of a single month of Adobe CC. They might not have 100% feature parity, but they're really very good.
- amelius 6y ago
  Do they support Linux?
  - trishmapow2 6y ago
    No, no plans to support and broken in Wine.
  - input_sh 6y ago
    Nope, and the wine support is rated as "garbage". https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=18332 https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=applicatio...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- dojopico 6y ago
  Emphatic second for the Affinity recommendation. The three products are extremely easy to use and have a consistent look and feel. I bought the books for Photo and Designer and never used them because 99% of the features are intuitive and every time I got stuck someone on the very active user forum set me straight. Also, the tutorials and how-to videos are excellent. You can buy a Windows laptop and all three Affinity products for less than one year’s subscription to Adobe.
- tomerico 6y ago
  To add to the Adobe alternatives recommendations - DaVinci Resolve is a much better video editor than Premiere, and it's free for personal use. I still pay for my creative cloud subscription, but prefer to use Resolve for its ease of use.
beowulfey 6y ago
Maybe I’m just getting old but I can’t believe how inefficient everything I used to love when I was younger has become recently. Adobe used to be the gold standard of quality software. I feel like eventually (i.e. the switch to creative cloud) they must have realized they didn’t want to focus on improving their products anymore and just switched to milking their customers. I’m afraid they are on the downslope now.
- alangibson 6y ago
  They've very much gone the way of Oracle: focus on squeezing every last cent out of what you've got now and screw the future. That attitude almost tanked Microsoft, but Nadela seems to have pulled them back from Balmer's bad habits somewhat.
tomaszs 6y ago
Adobe has this weird attitude to assume they own computers of users. Blocking possibility of unistalling is just one example. Another is that it downloads new version of apps theought CC and does not remove old one. It also gets a lots of memory and storage for no particular reason. But it is not only CC. I am asked once per some weeks if I want to remove Flash. I didn't ask about showing these spammy popups. But Adobe knows better. The pop-up has two options: uninstall or remind later... And if I don't want to uninstall Flash? It seems it is not my decision what software is installed on my computer according to Adobe.
- whywhywhywhy 6y ago
  >Another is that it downloads new version of apps theought CC and does not remove old one Oh this is actually just because they know full well their software can't be trusted to be backwards compatible with plugins and ecosystem of older versions. Even though they switched to subscription payment their feature releases are still basically the same as yearly boxed releases with the same lack of considerations for backwards compatibility that entails.
timvisee 6y ago
(2018)
augustk 6y ago
As Richard Stallman puts it "either the user controls the program or the program controls the user." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag1AKIl_2GM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag1AKIl_2GM
aejnsn 6y ago
The OS shoulders some of this blame. Apps like Adobe’s should not be able to exist using ransomware patterns. If I want the app to uninstall, nuke it Windows.
- danpalmer 6y ago
  It's lost some of what it used to be, but I do still like Apple's UX of apps being one "thing" that you can drag to your trash. Obviously there's preferences and caches and stuff, but generally even if there are background processes etc those are still in that app package and reclaiming most resources is still this simple. The Windows uninstall process seems archaic whenever I go back to it.
  - egypturnash 6y ago
    Not for Adobe, there’s a good half dozen processes related to licensing the stuff that are running on my machine at all times, installed by an Installer package that required admin access.
rayrag 6y ago
I highly recommend Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher - they have 90 days trial and you can buy them 50% off[1] - one time payment, you can install it on more than one computer. 1 - https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/supporting-the-creative-community/ https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/supporting-the-creative-com...
- gervwyk 6y ago
  They really offer an incredible line of powerful products. Been a happy Affinity customer for the past +2 years and really have no complaints, although I'm probably a light user.
gervwyk 6y ago
A while back I needed to do a project on an adobe product, I signed up and installed. After completing the project I uninstalled the software, some how I miss read that what I signed up for was an annual subscription of $11 per month. And when I stopped my subscription they charged me for the full year’s remaining fees. I was shocked, it left a very bitter taste of bad practice on their part in my opinion. I have since switched to only work with Affinity products, and I cannot be more happy with the quality of the Affinity suite of products. As a developer who has to deal with odd here and there graphic problems, Affinity products with a great once-off price model makes so much more sense.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  Chargeback time.
  - temporallobe 6y ago
    This. Since I started using my credit card more for purchases, I’ve used the power of chargeback on a few occasions and it’s wonderful. It puts the burden on the vendor to fight it, and 90% of the time they either don’t or the CC sides with you.
- alangibson 6y ago
  Affinity's stuff looks nice. Oh how I wish they'd release a Lightroom replacement.
  - tenacious_tuna 6y ago
    Is that not what their Photo app is? I guess it seems a bit more photoshop-flavored, but it looks like it has various lightroom-like features.
  - unicornporn 6y ago
    There's darktable, and it's getting very good (albeit quite complicated).
- 6y ago
EastSmith 6y ago
This is an OS (Windows) problem. It allows the software to behave that way. Windows Store version of the software will fix those problems - single uninstall button in the store and you are done.
qwerty456127 6y ago
You even have to detach the Internet cable to install Windows without a Microsoft account nowadays. I hope all this online account abomination is just a temporary fad.
- xodice 6y ago
  That is only applicable to the Home version. Pro and above still lets you create an offline account during setup. That said I find it disgusting you have to disable your internet connection on the Home version to create an offline account.
  - qwerty456127 6y ago
    There are rumors they even are going to remove support for offline password-based log-in to always require you to unlock your PC with your phone and an on-line account.
cronix 6y ago
I was using photoshop and premiere quite heavily since DOS days, back when it fit on 3 3.5" floppies. I really hated the adobe cloud concept... I just don't like the idea of renting software instead of owning it. Then it kept getting worse as far as resources it was consuming and number of softwares that were required to install. What really ticked me off was having to pay to upgrade photoshop whenever I got a new camera because you could only get the newest "camera raw" with the most current version. So basically you end up buying an entire new version of photoshop just for an updated nikon raw codec (in my case) just to be able to import your images. I spent a good deal of time and money in 2020 getting myself untangled from Adobe. The only thing of theirs allowed on my system now is a pdf reader and left such a bitter taste in my mouth I will actively never purchase another one of their professional products again. $300 for Black Magic's Resolve Studio is wayyyy worth it, and a better product now that I'm more proficient at it. I know many professionals in the film/video industry who have left them and won't look back. I was a hold out for too long. The only thing that makes me particularly sad about it now is that I have no way to open my old projects, because you rent adobe - you don't own it. Well I can open things that were created prior to version 6 as I do still own 5.5 Creative Suite and can use it... If I can find a damn dvd reader.
- curtis3389 6y ago
  If you only need PDF reading, SumatraPDF is far faster than Adobe Reader.
tjbenator 6y ago
I agree that Adobe is crooked for not allowing people to uninstall their software... But, why would you give a new employee a computer without imaging it first? I'd much rather spend the time imaging a new computer then try and clean off all the junk the old employee left.
bookmarkable 6y ago
Bad form by Adobe, certainly, but all the anti-subscription hate is unreasonable. For professional creative work, CC is well worth the money.
RightTail 6y ago
no terminal command to do this?

312 points by sings 6y ago

They've really upped their malware game recently. Even if unintentional, this sort of dark pattern shows incompetence, otherwise it's malfeasance. Happily the response as a consumer is the same.

mstipetic 6y ago
Average consumers don't care. But some PM can say they've "increased engagement and daily active users"

varispeed 6y ago

I think these kind of practices get regulated. There is absolutely no need for apps like Photoshop to be constantly online and spy on users. I think it should be illegal for the application to stay online if there is no legitimate need for it, I also hope that GDPR legislation will be extended to apps, as it seems they can just pull as much personal data as they like without any user control.

laurent92 6y ago
That is an interesting take. Can law regulate which apps remain in the background, how many executables they install, how much data they are allowed to leave behind? Is this really desirable? The law would have to differentiate servers from desktops, for starters.
- varispeed 6y ago
  Well, that's something to debate, but I am sure this is getting out of hand. Now every application has some sort of Application Manager that requires computer to be online in order to enable access to the app (some require to be online once a week etc.) and these managers send who knows what to their servers. I think for starters it should be illegal to require user to install such managers in order to have access to their app or at very least give an option for offline authorisation. There is no reason for such apps to exist other than to spy on users.
Nextgrid 6y ago
GDPR technically does apply to apps, and in fact already covers what you're saying. The principle of "data minimisation" (https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/principles/data-minimisation/ https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protectio...) means you should only collect the minimum amount of data required for a particular purpose, so in theory an app shouldn't be able to spy on you and call home all the time for the purposes of software licensing when something much less intrusive can suffice. Similarly, there is no valid reason why you should be forced to sign into an account to uninstall a piece of software. In reality though, the GDPR is not being enforced seriously and the same organization linked above who is writing those guidelines is completely incompetent at actually enforcing them.
- varispeed 6y ago
  You see I would be happy to make GDPR complaint about some apps, but I don't want to lose access to them. I am sure if I started something like this, they would just remove access and some of those apps don't have alternatives.
m463 6y ago
unfortunately last I looked at the california CCPA, it only applied to companies with greater $25m in revenue AND at least half of the revenue was advertising. Don't know what the updated CCPA will change in 2 years.

knlam 6y ago

The adobe apps acted like malware. Open your TaskManager(Activity Monitor on Mac) to see how much craps run on your computer when you installed Creative Cloud.

agys 6y ago
They even wrote their own “Cleaner tool”: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-in...
- willejs 6y ago
  I wish I knew this existed the other day, I spent about 10 minutes tracing all the crapware creative cloud had installed onto my macbook and deleted it. Some of it was using 5% cpu occationally, to do what?
  - Algent 6y ago
    Last time I needed it even their cleanup tool didn't manage to completely remove everything. We ended up reinstalling the whole machine to fix it.
- Daho0n 6y ago
  Which put them in class with such esteemed companies as McAfee and EA Games, both who also need cleaners to clean up crap after install often enough to have cleaners in their soft/malware.
jerrygoyal 6y ago
as a windows user, killing adobe from autostart can't be done from task manager "start-up apps" tab. I need to go to resource manager sort entries by auto-start and look for all adobe based processes (it's more than one) and then set them to "run manually". and I'm still not sure If I have completely disabled adobe apps from running passively in background.
- 6y ago

jansan 6y ago

Also, you also cannot install old Adobe apps anymore. I have a full version of Illustrator CS2 that I paid about 500€ for, but cannot install it because it needs to be activated and Adobe shut their licensing servers down.

2rsf 6y ago
For a while they used to give away a license-less version of those CS2 products, try searching maybe you can still get them.
- ddorian43 6y ago
  I've heard they give away license-less versions on piratebay.
  - jansan 6y ago
    So I have to go to piratebay in order to run the software that I fully paid for? That cannot be the solution.
    - ddorian43 6y ago
      Happens often and it will increase in occurrence.
  - 2rsf 6y ago
    the Adobe one is legal though, some people actually need that
- jansan 6y ago
  Yes, I already did some research and found it. The software can be downloaded here: https://www.chip.de/downloads/Adobe-Illustrator-CS2-Vollversion_59763474.html And the licensing codes can be found via archive.fo: https://archive.fo/255q5 But officially Adobe does not want me to install my old software anymore.

eyeswideopen 6y ago

As an OSX User i have 32 (!) rules in my LULU Firewall preventing Adobe to call home, which says a lot

iaml 6y ago
When I still was cc subscriber I blocked a lot of its telemetry but apparently their developers are unfamiliar with a concept of using exponential backoff for retries so it was just spamming requests every second.
- tinus_hn 6y ago
  If you block their incoming syn-ack packets instead, their apps start a denial of service attack on their own servers!
augustk 6y ago
As a Debian user I have zero issues with Adobe since I don't use or need any of their products.
- Daho0n 6y ago
  Please don't.

parkersweb 6y ago

This was actually quite an issue when my father-in-law died and his wife wanted to continue to use the computer. It was only because I have an Adobe ID of my own that I was able to resolve it by temporarily licensing it under my subscription....

pupdogg 6y ago

I've always associated efficiency of a program by its package size and with this mindset, Adobe Suite would be on the bottom of my list as being the most inefficient set of programs in modern times (proof: https://imgur.com/a/G1nJn7H https://imgur.com/a/G1nJn7H). I mean come on, 7.53GB for Adobe Acrobat? Then they tell you that your install base is bloated and you can save space by uninstalling/reinstalling it. As of recently, I find myself using Figma more and more becuase I don't want to wait for the counter Adobe program to load. SMH! I hope someone from Adobe is reading. FYI, WinAmp v2.8 is not #1 but high on the same list for being a butt kicker for its package size!

mstipetic 6y ago

I don't know how we got to this state that we don't control our own basic processes and how they behave. Just off the top of my head right now on osx: can't shut down creative cloud app from the app bar, can't shut down webex, docker desktop regularly hijacks everything I'm doing (once when having a presentation in front of 100 people) to show there's an update, steam client jumping in the tray for hours unless I acknowledge there's an update, apps registering to be started on boot by themselves and having to go through a convoluted process to turn it off (if it even exists)...

mrweasel 6y ago
Can’t close Chrome either, because that will exit Google Chat as well.
Blikkentrekker 6y ago
> I don't know how we got to this state that we don't control our own basic processes and how they behave. If the system be designed such that the task of uninstalling lies with the program itself rather than some other program then one never really did. I understand this design not. I would assume that uninstalling the program means deleting some set of files and perhaps registry keys on Windows, or is there more to it?
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
It's one argument in favor of having the OS determine how software is in- and uninstalled, instead of delegating it to an application supplied by the developer. I mean in theory on Mac you can just remove the .app file. I would like the 'profile' files for an application to be a bit more obvious though, e.g. stored in /Users/<username>/Application Data/Adobe instead of the deeply nested and hidden-by-default Library folder.
- sbuk 6y ago
  There are apps like App Delete that help there. Once installed, it can detect an app in the trash and remove the hidden parts too. That said, it would be helpful if this was built in...

mattlutze 6y ago

I uninstalled Creative Cloud from my PC last week and my oh my, did it feel like I was transported back to e.g. 2007. I emotionally recoil from businesses whose only remaining competition moat is "we make it hard to get rid of our stuff"

skyfantom 6y ago

I think I would like to use Photoshop. But Creative Cloud stops me, once upon a time I was needed to delete Adobe apps from PC and it was a nightmare. Nowadays you can't install Adobe apps without Creative Cloud.

eertami 6y ago
My plan is to keep using Photoshop CS6 for as long as my computer will let me. There aren't any CC features that I feel a compelling need to use.
- m463 6y ago
  Make good bit-level backups.
  - eertami 6y ago
    I still have the installer so I'm not too worried about that.
forgingahead 6y ago
Have you tried GIMP? Haven't used Photoshop in ages, but GIMP can open PSD files, so hopefully it's close enough to functionality to replace Photoshop. https://www.gimp.org/downloads/ https://www.gimp.org/downloads/
- kogepathic 6y ago
  Have you tried Photopea? Photopea can also open PSD files, and it runs entirely in a browser so it's suitable for using on a Chromebook. https://www.photopea.com/ https://www.photopea.com/
- cerved 6y ago
  GIMP is a useable FOSS alternative but sucks when compared to Photoshop if you're using it professionally

m463 6y ago

You know what app vendor I really like? The Omni Group. They are pretty much the epitome of "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar". They even offer their products with a subscription - and I would consider it! They let you purchase your apps for real, they're not forcing anything, and then I think I should support their efforts. Additionally their licensing is: buy a license, type in your code, your program works. You can use your personal license on all your machines and they trust you. Last they allow you to save your data to "the cloud", but don't force it. And "the cloud" means you can conveniently store it on their server, or on your own or someone else's webdav server. More people should follow their good example. (and remember, with trust, commerce is unlimited)

Hallucinaut 6y ago
I can't tell whether this is satire, shilling or an honest-to-goodness review. The generic nature reads like the kind of virtuous extolling I'd hear from an NPC in Fallout or the like.
- pjc50 6y ago
  Especially since they're called the "Omni Group", an extremely generic name.
  - devoutsalsa 6y ago
    They're the people behind OmniGraffle.
  - protomyth 6y ago
    They are a long time NeXT and then OS X developer. https://www.omnigroup.com/ https://www.omnigroup.com/
  - dewey 6y ago
    They are pretty well known under that name and you'd hear them referred to the "Omni Group" in a lot of Apple focused podcasts.
  - 6y ago

string 6y ago

I try to avoid Adobe like the plague these days. It's not always easy, but thankfully it's getting easier. As nobody has mentioned them yet, I would highly recommend Affinity products as alternatives to Adobe software. Coupled with Sketch, I've been able to avoid Adobe products for 2+ years now. Affinity have replacements for Photoshop (Photo), InDesign (Publisher) and Illustrator (Designer), currently on sale for not too far off the cost of a single month of Adobe CC. They might not have 100% feature parity, but they're really very good.

amelius 6y ago
Do they support Linux?
- trishmapow2 6y ago
  No, no plans to support and broken in Wine.
- input_sh 6y ago
  Nope, and the wine support is rated as "garbage". https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=18332 https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=applicatio...
deleted 6y ago
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dojopico 6y ago
Emphatic second for the Affinity recommendation. The three products are extremely easy to use and have a consistent look and feel. I bought the books for Photo and Designer and never used them because 99% of the features are intuitive and every time I got stuck someone on the very active user forum set me straight. Also, the tutorials and how-to videos are excellent. You can buy a Windows laptop and all three Affinity products for less than one year’s subscription to Adobe.
tomerico 6y ago
To add to the Adobe alternatives recommendations - DaVinci Resolve is a much better video editor than Premiere, and it's free for personal use. I still pay for my creative cloud subscription, but prefer to use Resolve for its ease of use.

beowulfey 6y ago

Maybe I’m just getting old but I can’t believe how inefficient everything I used to love when I was younger has become recently. Adobe used to be the gold standard of quality software. I feel like eventually (i.e. the switch to creative cloud) they must have realized they didn’t want to focus on improving their products anymore and just switched to milking their customers. I’m afraid they are on the downslope now.

alangibson 6y ago
They've very much gone the way of Oracle: focus on squeezing every last cent out of what you've got now and screw the future. That attitude almost tanked Microsoft, but Nadela seems to have pulled them back from Balmer's bad habits somewhat.

tomaszs 6y ago

Adobe has this weird attitude to assume they own computers of users. Blocking possibility of unistalling is just one example. Another is that it downloads new version of apps theought CC and does not remove old one. It also gets a lots of memory and storage for no particular reason. But it is not only CC. I am asked once per some weeks if I want to remove Flash. I didn't ask about showing these spammy popups. But Adobe knows better. The pop-up has two options: uninstall or remind later... And if I don't want to uninstall Flash? It seems it is not my decision what software is installed on my computer according to Adobe.

whywhywhywhy 6y ago
>Another is that it downloads new version of apps theought CC and does not remove old one Oh this is actually just because they know full well their software can't be trusted to be backwards compatible with plugins and ecosystem of older versions. Even though they switched to subscription payment their feature releases are still basically the same as yearly boxed releases with the same lack of considerations for backwards compatibility that entails.

timvisee 6y ago

(2018)

augustk 6y ago

As Richard Stallman puts it "either the user controls the program or the program controls the user." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag1AKIl_2GM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag1AKIl_2GM

aejnsn 6y ago

The OS shoulders some of this blame. Apps like Adobe’s should not be able to exist using ransomware patterns. If I want the app to uninstall, nuke it Windows.

danpalmer 6y ago
It's lost some of what it used to be, but I do still like Apple's UX of apps being one "thing" that you can drag to your trash. Obviously there's preferences and caches and stuff, but generally even if there are background processes etc those are still in that app package and reclaiming most resources is still this simple. The Windows uninstall process seems archaic whenever I go back to it.
- egypturnash 6y ago
  Not for Adobe, there’s a good half dozen processes related to licensing the stuff that are running on my machine at all times, installed by an Installer package that required admin access.

rayrag 6y ago

I highly recommend Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher - they have 90 days trial and you can buy them 50% off[1] - one time payment, you can install it on more than one computer. 1 - https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/supporting-the-creative-community/ https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/supporting-the-creative-com...

gervwyk 6y ago
They really offer an incredible line of powerful products. Been a happy Affinity customer for the past +2 years and really have no complaints, although I'm probably a light user.

gervwyk 6y ago

A while back I needed to do a project on an adobe product, I signed up and installed. After completing the project I uninstalled the software, some how I miss read that what I signed up for was an annual subscription of $11 per month. And when I stopped my subscription they charged me for the full year’s remaining fees. I was shocked, it left a very bitter taste of bad practice on their part in my opinion. I have since switched to only work with Affinity products, and I cannot be more happy with the quality of the Affinity suite of products. As a developer who has to deal with odd here and there graphic problems, Affinity products with a great once-off price model makes so much more sense.

jacquesm 6y ago
Chargeback time.
- temporallobe 6y ago
  This. Since I started using my credit card more for purchases, I’ve used the power of chargeback on a few occasions and it’s wonderful. It puts the burden on the vendor to fight it, and 90% of the time they either don’t or the CC sides with you.
alangibson 6y ago
Affinity's stuff looks nice. Oh how I wish they'd release a Lightroom replacement.
- tenacious_tuna 6y ago
  Is that not what their Photo app is? I guess it seems a bit more photoshop-flavored, but it looks like it has various lightroom-like features.
- unicornporn 6y ago
  There's darktable, and it's getting very good (albeit quite complicated).
6y ago

EastSmith 6y ago

This is an OS (Windows) problem. It allows the software to behave that way. Windows Store version of the software will fix those problems - single uninstall button in the store and you are done.

qwerty456127 6y ago

You even have to detach the Internet cable to install Windows without a Microsoft account nowadays. I hope all this online account abomination is just a temporary fad.

xodice 6y ago
That is only applicable to the Home version. Pro and above still lets you create an offline account during setup. That said I find it disgusting you have to disable your internet connection on the Home version to create an offline account.
- qwerty456127 6y ago
  There are rumors they even are going to remove support for offline password-based log-in to always require you to unlock your PC with your phone and an on-line account.

cronix 6y ago

I was using photoshop and premiere quite heavily since DOS days, back when it fit on 3 3.5" floppies. I really hated the adobe cloud concept... I just don't like the idea of renting software instead of owning it. Then it kept getting worse as far as resources it was consuming and number of softwares that were required to install. What really ticked me off was having to pay to upgrade photoshop whenever I got a new camera because you could only get the newest "camera raw" with the most current version. So basically you end up buying an entire new version of photoshop just for an updated nikon raw codec (in my case) just to be able to import your images. I spent a good deal of time and money in 2020 getting myself untangled from Adobe. The only thing of theirs allowed on my system now is a pdf reader and left such a bitter taste in my mouth I will actively never purchase another one of their professional products again. $300 for Black Magic's Resolve Studio is wayyyy worth it, and a better product now that I'm more proficient at it. I know many professionals in the film/video industry who have left them and won't look back. I was a hold out for too long. The only thing that makes me particularly sad about it now is that I have no way to open my old projects, because you rent adobe - you don't own it. Well I can open things that were created prior to version 6 as I do still own 5.5 Creative Suite and can use it... If I can find a damn dvd reader.

curtis3389 6y ago
If you only need PDF reading, SumatraPDF is far faster than Adobe Reader.

tjbenator 6y ago

I agree that Adobe is crooked for not allowing people to uninstall their software... But, why would you give a new employee a computer without imaging it first? I'd much rather spend the time imaging a new computer then try and clean off all the junk the old employee left.

bookmarkable 6y ago

Bad form by Adobe, certainly, but all the anti-subscription hate is unreasonable. For professional creative work, CC is well worth the money.

RightTail 6y ago

no terminal command to do this?