Is the annual upgrade plan a perpetual license?

[jsbach]

I'm confused as to the difference between an "annual upgrade plan" and an "annual subscription."

I was hoping someone could confirm: If I upgrade to Pro Tools 11 via the $199 upgrade plan, is this an extension of my perpetual license?
So, when Pro Tools 12 comes out, I will have a perpetual license for PT12 that is current through my annual upgrade plan expiration date?
This is the same license as someone who starts from scratch with the $899 perpetual license? If so, I think I'm finally starting to understand how the pricing of the new plans work.

The options I see on the Avid website are:

Pro Tools | Software monthly subscription (one-month license subscription with updates and support) starts at $29.99/month

Pro Tools | Software annual upgrade plan (12-months of updates and support) starts at $199

Pro Tools | Software annual subscription (12-month license subscription with updates and support) starts at $299

Perpetual licenses for Pro Tools | Software (includes 12-months of updates and support) start at $899

[Bob Olhsson]

Yes, it's supposed to be an extension of your perpetual license.

[jsbach]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

Yes, it's supposed to be an extension of your perpetual license.

Great. Thanks!

I think it would be much clearer if they added "perpetual license" to the description instead of just:

Pro Tools | Software annual upgrade plan (12-months of updates and support) starts at $199

[Bob Olhsson]

I know. I'd be lost too if I hadn't read their every press release and blog about this for the past year or two.

[nst7]

It is a perpetual license. If you don't renew, you keep whatever features were added while you were current.

The part that people are upset about, is if you don't renew the support plan, and want to get back in later on, you have to rebuy Protools at full price, or buy a new hardware bundle that includes it.

[Bill Denton]

Technically, it's a little more complicated than that, and the differences are important...

If you already owned PT 11, you had a license for Pro Tools 11, along with a separate license allowing you to run PT 10 (although this is of little import). The key factor, is that the license is for a specific Pro Tools version.

When you buy the service plan, your then-current perpetual license is replaced by a one-year license allowing you to run any current version of Pro Tools released while your service plan is in effect. I haven't seen any previous versions having been addressed, so, while your license might be good for PT 12.5, the question of PT 12.0 hasn't been addressed.

Should your service plan expire, you will have a perpetual license to run the latest version of Pro Tools released while your service plan was in effect.

To simplify...

Before service plan, your license is limited to a specific version.

During service plan, your license allows you to run latest of any version released while service plan is in effect.

After service plan, your license is limited to a specific version.

Again, it's a subtlety that shouldn't effect very many, if any, people at all, but you need to be aware of it, and that the terms while the service plan are in effect are subject to change as Avid irons all of the legal stuff out...

[Bob Olhsson]

I've seen no indication that he would lose access to 11. Because of plug-in compatibility, people need to be able to use an earlier version. I would be very surprised if anybody upgrading to 11 would ever lose it. That makes no sense.

[Bill Denton]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

I've seen no indication that he would lose access to 11. Because of plug-in compatibility, people need to be able to use an earlier version. I would be very surprised if anybody upgrading to 11 would ever lose it. That makes no sense.

They may allow some "backward compatibility"...this topic is somewhat up in the air. But 12 should provide the same compatibility 11 does.

But 11 is pretty well dead as far as new development goes...it will only be bug fixes once 12 comes out.

Could you perhaps have been thinking of PT 10? That was where the compatibility issue came to the fore.

And Avid has said PT 10 will be around through the end of 2015...

And rereading my comment, I probably should have used a term like, "The latest version your license will cover is"...

[Park Seward]

Seems we are not alone.

To add to the insult, Intuit is adopting the Adobe subscription model. Pricing is now starts at $2,000.00 annually for a three-user license, with upsets to new extra cost Advanced Modules which, according the sale rep, if you stop your subscription, the advanced modules render your QuickBooks Enterprise data file un-openable. Very Adobe-like.

[Bob Olhsson]

What they've always done is continue updates to make older versions compatible with newer. If they really need to change the session file format in 11 for some reason, they can be expected to also change it in 10 because by definition PT 10 is supposed to open all sessions done in 11. When they move beyond that, they've always created a new file format and offered the option to save in the old.