Adobe Systems is discontinuing Photoshop Album Starter Edition, the lowest rung on its ladder of image-editing software products, and the company is nudging its users toward the online Photoshop.com site.
Adobe launched Photoshop Album Starter Edition in 2003 as a free, bare-bones image cataloging and editing package. Adobe discontinued the line, though, and support for it ended 30 June.
In a customer note, Adobe proposes its online service, Photoshop.com, as an alternative for users.
"As part of our commitment to providing customers with a free photo-editing solution, we have created Photoshop.com, an exciting new online service that lets you upload, organize, edit, store (up to 2GB free), and share your photos," the note said. It also provides a list of steps for exporting photos from the software to the web site.
The move reflects the growing importance of Web-based applications even for software powerhouses such as Adobe. Web applications, even when using relatively sophisticated technology such as Adobe's Flash, are typically primitive compared to what can run on a computer. However, they offer advantages in sharing, maintenance, and remote access from multiple computers and mobile devices. In addition, the web is gradually growing more sophisticated as a foundation for applications.
Adobe's note also encourages customers to "consider an upgrade to Adobe Photoshop Elements 7," the consumer-oriented software that costs about £55 excluding VAT. Subscriptions to Photoshop.com are not listed on Adobe's UK site. On the US site, the Basic subscription is free, with additional optional storage starting at about $20 (£12) per year.
