A perpetual license is a traditional way of purchasing software, meaning you pay for the license upfront so you have the right to use the software in perpetuity. With a subscription license, a customer prepays a user fee, entitling them to use the software only during the subscription term. Quark added a subscription option because it has become a common software licensing model, benefitting both the customer and the vendor. Determining which license model to choose comes down to personal or organizational preference: owning the license with or without extended maintenance and support or having flexibility in terms of budgeting and scalability through a subscription. Another consideration is that a subscription license entitles the user to the latest version of the software plus applicable updates as long as the subscription is active, whereas the lifecycle of a product with a perpetual license will reach an end of life – meaning software updates and support will stop after a certain point.

A software update refers to a patch that fixes features that aren't working as intended or adds minor enhancements and sometimes compatibility. QuarkXPress customers do not need a maintenance plan to receive software updates; you are entitled to updates for both major and minor version numbers of QuarkXPress that have not reached their end of life.  
A software upgrade refers to a new version of the software with significant changes, new features and major improvements. The release of an upgrade often coincides with a major OS upgrade for Windows and macOS. QuarkXPress customers with an active Advantage Plan for software maintenance and tech support are entitled to free upgrades. A QuarkXPress customer with an older version of the software that has reached end of life (EOL) may upgrade to the newest version of the software by upgrading their current perpetual license either with or without an Advantage Plan. Alternatively, a customer with an EOL version of QuarkXPress may purchase the annual subscription.

All software applications have version numbers – a series of numbers separated by periods – to track their iterations, including upgrades and updates.  
The leftmost number is the major version number, so going from version 1.0 to 2.0 indicates a major upgrade/new release of the software. These upgrades/new versions also may include a specific version name, such as QuarkXPress 2022. 
The rightmost number generally represents a software update, so going from version 3.0.2 to 3.0.3 indicates a fix or minor change and is usually delivered as a free software update.

Once your purchase is complete, you will receive an email from Quark with instructions about how to activate the software. Note that instead of a validation code, you will need a username and password to activate your software and manage your license(s). Your username will be the email address you use to purchase the software. After you login with your username and new password, you can see all your licenses and manage them as necessary. All QuarkXPress 2022 licenses can be managed from the license management console that is accessible from within the product (this is a new feature).

The older perpetual license and its activations remain intact.

One activation is included with each perpetual or subscription license of QuarkXPress 2022. You may run the software on several different machines, provided that you only run it on one at a time. You will use the license management console to determine which machine runs it when.

Yes, you are entitled to software maintenance and support for QuarkXPress CopyDesk if you have an active QuarkXPress Advantage Plan or an active subscription to QuarkXPress.

Yes, the Quark App Publishing Studio subscription entitles you to upgrades, updates and technical support as long as your subscription is active.