This is really just to get one on the SaaS model as that is supposedly a big selling factor, when it's quite the reverse. Updating (while I'm not totally against it) is inherently unstable and not all updates are for the better. I have known people to actually lose abilities that they once enjoyed via updating.
Quite a few of these programs are decades old (which prompted the need for this type of pricing schema as well). About the only way to actually handle things better would be to refactor and that just isn't going to happen (and there are reasons that I can see for it to not happen). Why even when there are updates that bring functionality that users want, they after appear like a "hack" and in most instances probably are, because one is dealing with tech debt over the span of decades.
I imagine, given what is being crammed into the browser as far as APIs go, eventually a lot of these programs will be able to be enjoyed via the "browser". Might as well be if they are subscription as it is.
