Adobe announcement: Download of LR 6.14 will cease at the end of the year.

[Steve Ricoh]

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Links to download LR 6.14 will cease to work after 31/12/23:

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/lightroom-classic/help/lightroom-6-end-of-support.html?utm_source=The Lightroom Queen&utm_campaign=197025fdad-Newsletter_2023-12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4d9d446d9f-197025fdad-341386377&mc_cid=197025fdad&mc_eid=630f4a89db&clickref=1101ly62GSQQ&mv=affiliate&mv2=pz&as_camptype=&as_channel=affiliate&as_source=partnerize&as_campaign=lightroomqueen

I’m not sure where this puts me with regard to continued use of LR6.14 should I replace my current laptop with a new device (currently W8.1, but may replace with a Mac) given the download will be inoperable from the end of the year.

Any thoughts?

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[pegelli]

I would download it and put the .exe file on a stick so you can still install it in the future on a new machine.

Make sure you also have a copy of your licence code(s), in my case this is the LR5 licence code and a separate code for the upgrade to LR6, but if you bought the LR6 full package it's just one licence code.

Edited December 23, 2023 by pegelli

[Topsy]

I've been there, when I got a new computer I coul;dn't get my LR 6.14 authenticated no matter what I did, Adobe told me that the servers supporting it were no longer operating so there was nothing they could do. They advised me to the new subscription version which I am not prepared to do.

 

Anyway I returned the new computer and got my old one updated to Win 10 and added a new Hard drive, when I had this done I got the computer doctor to "Clone" my old hard drive aonto the new onewhich he did and my LR 6.14 worked straight off the bat. I then got him to replace the HD on my laptop and do the same so I now have both my desktop and laptop upgraded and on Win 10 and still have my LR 6.14 on both.

 

P.S. I also did what @pegelli advises and downloaded the stuff from the same link as you have put up.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Topsy

[pegelli]

@Topsy, When did you have the problems with authentication you describe? I installed a new desktop in May this year and a new laptop in September and both worked with the 6.14 download and my licence numbers without any problems. Like you I'm also not ready yet to go to the subscription model.

[Topsy]

8 minutes ago, pegelli said:

@Topsy, When did you have the problems with authentication you describe? I installed a new desktop in May this year and a new laptop in September and both worked with the 6.14 download and my licence numbers without any problems. Like you I'm also not ready yet to go to the subscription model.

Back in May 2021, at the time I commented on a different Forum I am a member of and others had had similar experiences, one member gave me the link that you posted. BTW when I had my drives cloned I didn't need to re-authenticate  the programmes just fired up as if they were on the original computers.

[Chuck Albertson]

3 hours ago, Steve Ricoh said:

Links to download LR 6.14 will cease to work after 31/12/23:

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/lightroom-classic/help/lightroom-6-end-of-support.html?utm_source=The Lightroom Queen&utm_campaign=197025fdad-Newsletter_2023-12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4d9d446d9f-197025fdad-341386377&mc_cid=197025fdad&mc_eid=630f4a89db&clickref=1101ly62GSQQ&mv=affiliate&mv2=pz&as_camptype=&as_channel=affiliate&as_source=partnerize&as_campaign=lightroomqueen

I’m not sure where this puts me with regard to continued use of LR6.14 should I replace my current laptop with a new device (currently W8.1, but may replace with a Mac) given the download will be inoperable from the end of the year.

Any thoughts?

The download page has separate links for Windows and Mac versions, so if you're planning getting a Mac...

I tried to download the Windows version the other day (for a backup), and it got through the entire 1GB file before telling me the download had failed.

[Topsy]

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59 minutes ago, Chuck Albertson said:

The download page has separate links for Windows and Mac versions, so if you're planning getting a Mac...

I tried to download the Windows version the other day (for a backup), and it got through the entire 1GB file before telling me the download had failed.

I've just downloaded the Windows version (again0 no problem.

[dpitt]

AFAIK the LR classic installer does not work with the latest Mac OS since 10.12 ( if I remember right)
Users who have installed Classic before and have been upgraded can run the software until Mac OS 12, but not do a fresh install.

My last Macbook Pro had Mac OS 12 pre-installed. It did not have any software installed so I was stuck, either upgrade to a subscription or chose an other way. I dabbled a bit in free (Darktable and Rawtherapee) software before jumping on the C1P v23 wagon. I bought my perpetual subscription at a 30% discount and I hope to enjoy it for a few more years until I need to upgrade my hardware.

Lessons learned... This is the last time that I regard any PP software as my means to access all my DNG files, like I did with Aperture and LR. I now use the free DAM software Digikam to manage all my files. Digikam handles keywords, faces, geographical data and more.
Original DNG files are kept in a file structure and finished products are exported as full resolution JPEGs (or web sized as needed). I use the C1P to process relatively small sessions of a few hundred/thousend RAW files containing e.g. one holiday. Once they are processed, I export them and then archive the session. Even if in the future, I do not have access to C1P (how perpetual is perpetual?), I can still manage with Digikam to access the originals and finished files if need be.

 

[dugby]

In December 2023, I installed two new Intel NUC mini computers with Windows 10 Pro.

Onto each I was able to install Lightroom 6.14 and authenticate both back to the Adobe servers.

 

Next Microsoft allowed the free upgrade to Windows 11 Pro on both Intel NUCs, which completed successfully.

Now I have two new current Windows 11 systems with Lightroom 6.14 working reliably with my M10-R DNGs.

 

I use Crucial M.2 NVME storage plus a Crucial 2.5" SSD in each Intel NUC.

Acronis backup software is provided complimentary to Crucial customers, which allows full "c:" partition backup to each of the internal SSDs.

I've tested the full "c:"  restores for change control, so am pleased to have two reliable configurations.

 

All my DNGs are stored in a mirrored (Raid 1) Synology NAS.

 

 

 

[Anbaric]

On 12/23/2023 at 3:58 PM, Steve Ricoh said:

I’m not sure where this puts me with regard to continued use of LR6.14 should I replace my current laptop with a new device (currently W8.1, but may replace with a Mac) given the download will be inoperable from the end of the year.

Activation and download of the installers are separate things, and I don't think they've killed activation yet (though at some point I imagine they will). It looks like you can still (Jan 2024) get the installers via the WayBack Machine cache and activate them:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/downloading-adobe-ligthroom-6-14/m-p/14380101

https://web.archive.org/web/20220716114731/https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/lightroom-6-end-of-support.html

If the activation servers are still running, you may also need to deactivate LR on the existing machine before activating it on the new one as I think only 2 simultaneous installations are allowed.

I believe the Lightroom licence is cross-platform, so if you have both installers you can put it on any compatible machine, but I don't think recent Macs are compatible with LR6.

Incidentally, I don't think LR5 and earlier require online activation, so Adobe can never stop you using them if you have the installer and key and a compatible machine. You can use the DNG converter to make compatible files if LR5 (or LR6) doesn't support your raw files directly.

Edited February 1, 2024 by Anbaric

[rogxwhit]

I always archive a local copy of downloaded apps in case I ever need to reinstall them.

LR5 doesn't need online activation; LR6 does.  Cloning a drive (Topsy above, post #5) seems a good workaround.  Unless the first drive is broken!

If you upgraded from 5 to 6, & then become unable to activate a reinstall of 6, it may be tempting to think that you could revert to a fresh install of 5 (if you've kept a copy), but my understanding is that the catalogues of those two versions aren't backwards compatible.  If however your image backup includes sidecars recording adjustments from 6, they are readable by 5! 

 

 

[microview]

I recently uploaded LR5 to a new Macbook Pro with OS 14.3.1 (Sonoma). Rather surprised that it seemed fine, but the moment I open or try to do anything it just crashes. Reopen, try again, crashes. So no compatitbility there. Looks like subscription if I want to stay with LR.