I keep on receiving notifications from Waves that my WUP is about to expire for this or that plug-in/bundle... I read somewhere that there's a new authorization scheme too, but I haven't got to that.
 
Speaking of authorization, I think iLok too has been updated, hasn't it?
 
Actually, of all the (few) 3rd party tools I've bothered to install when I upgraded the studio computer last year, I haven't bothered to update a single one.
 
The only things that are up to date are Logic and Pro Tools. The computer is kept offline 99% of the time.
 
My idea when I bought it was to treat it as a hardware recorder - install the then current generation of music software I need and leave it alone after that. Meaning that, technically, until hardware starts to fail, it should remain essentially the same 5 or 6 years from the moment I buy it.
 
Still, I'm wondering... How painfully complicated will it be for me to make the move to the next DAW, when I do buy a new computer, and I am 6 years behind. I'm sure there won't be an upgrade option anymore on a lot of those products I use.
 
But it is so pleasant NOT to have to worry about updates and upgrades - just power up the DAW and make music - that I'm actually wondering if I care at all that I eventually lose some or even most of the 3rd party plugs I use. And if I really need some of them, just buying a new license might be worth it, considering all the hoops I won't have to jump through in the next few years.
 
Of course, by then everything will be cloud-based and subscription-based. Somehow I wish I could clone my DAW and store those clones for the future.