Hi Linda and Marge - and all -  

I went through this recently too, and the pain made me squirm also.  Had been running CS4 on Mac OS 10.5.  Plain old started over.  Got Mavrick (10.9) and bought a new version - NOT the monthly fee - of CS6 and will buy lightroom once I get time.  Did all the math, and I generally skip several upgrades, and make a version last for 4-5 years.  Divide that out vs the monthly fee for CS6 and buying it was cheaper for me than the subscription.   Also did have to buy a new Microsoft Office version as the old one would not even load onto Mavrick. 

The way I look at it:  back in the day I spent at least $600 on art supplies and Fed-X a year.  Now I divide out the price of the computers (2 actually, desktop and laptop for travel work) which seem to last 5 - 8 yrs and the software packages and its its fairly comparable.  Its just the price of being in the illustration business.  I had to get over the idea that these things should only have to be purchased once.  Now in my head they are all in the category of art supplies that get used up and have to be replaced at a certain regular pace.  It is all enough to make you crazy though.

Taina

-- 
Taina Litwak
Litwak Illustration Studio
13029 Chestnut Oak Drive
Darnestown, MD  20878

tel: 301-527-0569
mobile: 240-750-9245

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