Don, I think it would be more a matter of assessing whether the Linux programs would meet your needs. Depending on your requirements, LibreOffice can substitute for MS Office, GIMP for Photoshop, etc.


As for continuing support of older products, I'd think any company would be limited in how many versions they can maintain.

btw, the software I use has a much shorter life cycle - around 18 months. The upside is that I can have a free new version roughly every 8 months.