Ive been using Adobe Creative Cloud for well over a year now and its far better then the "boxed version". So many useful extra features that wouldnt be available in the boxed version. I think many users get confused since its marketing as a "cloud" product that it wouldnt be installed on the computer...if that was ever the case Adobe and many other companies would be in trouble since not everyone has decent enough broadband speed (I for one am on a 3.5meg speed). Also with the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription you would also be getting free upgrades (before, Creative Suite would still cost a few hundred a year if they were to bring out new versions...So in a sense paying monthly is cost effective long term :)