Aparture

Apple announced, that Aperture will no longer be further developed. There will be no Aperture 4, only a compatibility update for integration with MacOS X 10.10 Yosemite.

So during the life cycle of the next MacOS X version will Aperture still be available and working. Apple is currently developing the application Photos for the Mac, that will support a photo library in the cloud.

We don't know much about the new "Photos". See:

• Aperture is Dead. Long Live Photos! | ApertureExpert
• Apple to replace Aperture and iPhoto with Photos for OS X early next year | 9to5Mac
• Apple To Cease Development Of Aperture And Transition Users To Photos For OS X | TechCrunch

What should I plan for for my photography needs?

That will depend on your needs.

Capture-pro will support the migration from Aperture losslessly:

http://www.photographybay.com/2014/10/01/capture-one-pro-8-unveiled-features-app le-aperture-migrate-option/

You could migrate to Lightroom.

Or if you are not in a hurry, wait and see, how Photos will turn out, and if the developers will provide extensions for Photos, to turn it into a professional application.

Consider Apples rate of development of new Aperture features over the last several years, the way the they announced the end of Aperture development (did they address their community of faithful users directly? have they made an official statement that you can find on an Apple web page?) and how clearly they have defined their future intentions (shrouded in mist).

Consider the same questions for Adobe, Phase One and DXO.

This may give you some ideas of the level of trust and confidence you might put in Apple versus these other vendors.

My future plans don't include buying much Apple Software.

You're welcome 🙂