ACR updates with previous versions of photoshop

[tommm]

Is my memory serving me badly or am I right in thinking that it used to be possible to continue updating ACR even after new versions of photoshop came out. I'm sure when I was using CS2 I could keep updating ACR until I upgraded to CS4 but maybe I've just got a bad memory. Anybody know the definitive answer and if I'm right then when they changed their minds about allowing ACR to be updated and if there's the slimmest chance Adobe could be persuaded to revert policy!? It seems a bit unfair that if you don't need the new functionality but buy a new camera, you're forced to upgrade - or is it still possible to download an updated DNG converter to use new cameras with older versions of ACR?

Cheers,

Tom

[NikoJorj]

Is my memory serving me badly or am I right in thinking that it used to be possible to continue updating ACR even after new versions of photoshop came out.

You can upgrade ACR within the same major revision number ; ie with PS CS4, which shipped with ACR5.0, you can upgrade to ACR5.7.
You can't upgrade PS CS4 with ACR 6.2, it needs CS5.

or is it still possible to download an updated DNG converter to use new cameras with older versions of ACR?

Yes it is!
The DNG converter is independant from PS and free ; the DNG produced can be read with ACR2.4 or higher IIRC.

[sniper]

It's Adobes policy to stop supporting a version once a new one comes out.