Keeping previous versions installed when installing CC 2015 applications

By default, when you install a CC 2015 version of an application using the Creative Cloud desktop utility, previous versions of that application will be uninstalled, leaving only the most recent version. For example, by default, installing After Effects CC 2015 (13.5) using the Creative Cloud desktop utility will uninstall After Effects CC 2014 (13.2) and After Effects CC (12.2).

If you want to retain these previous versions during the installation of CC 2015, then you need to deselect the Remove Old Versions option in the Advanced Options section of the updater interface.

You can choose to reinstall previous versions at any time by following these instructions.

Here are some reasons that you may want to keep the previous version around for a little while, with some tips for how to manage the migration to the new version:

• Plug-in compatibility: Because the interactive performance improvements for After Effects CC 2015 (13.5) required a complete re-architecture of the application, most plug-ins need to be updated to work with this new version. If you need to use a plug-in that has not yet been updated, then you may wish to use the previous version—After Effects CC 2014 (13.2)—for the parts of your work that require that plug-in until the updated version is available.
• Need to work with collaborators or clients who have not yet upgraded: Of course, you should urge these folks to update as soon as possible, but you may need to keep a previous version around until everyone that you work with has caught up. Since you can save projects back one major version number from After Effects, you can still work with the most recent version for your creative work and then only save backward as occasionally needed. Note that you don’t even need to use the command to save backward one version when going between After Effects CC 2015 (13.5) and After Effects CC 2014 (13.2), since the project file format is unchanged, as indicated by the major version number (the part before the dot). For details about saving backward in After Effects, see this page.
• Need to use features not available in the version: With each new version, we take the opportunity to prune features that haven’t gotten much use or for some reason no longer make sense to keep in the application. And, as is the case with After Effects CC 2015 (13.5), we sometimes need to remove a feature because of a major architectural change. Even if you do need to use a feature not available in After Effects CC 2015 (13.5), we encourage you to do the bulk of your creative work in After Effects CC 2015 (13.5) and then open the same project in After Effects CC 2014 (13.2) for the part of your work that requires that feature.