Photoshop/Adobe update pricing policy change is coming, according to posts on the Linkedin Photoshop board.
The new policy will require that you have the last version of Photoshop (and possibly other Adobe products) to get the update pricing. This will affect many of us, who stay one or two versions back, waiting for major changes to be made. The posts indicate that we have until Dec 31, 2011 to update to the current CS5 or CS5.5 to obtain the update pricing for the next "Version 6" edition that is due out in 2012.
I am not in favor of the change, as I think there is not always enough change to affect most of us, but I guess we have to get our ducks in line if we want to be able to afford updates at all. I prefer the Topaz policy of free upgrades if you purchase the program, in which case updating for each new version is worthwhile.