Adobe says no way to Vista updates

Filed under: Design, News, Adobe, Commercial

Adobe says no way to Vista updates

by Grant Robertson Mar 20th 2007

Adobe says you'll have to upgrade to new versions of popular (and really expensive) software like Photoshop, InDesign and DreamWeaver if you want them to run well under Windows Vista.

Current versions of many Adobe products won't run flawlessly under Windows Vista, this announcement only confirms that they never will. So, if you're a creative professional (who hasn't already jumped ship to OS X) start getting out the check book. Adobe's CS3 creative suite will be out next week, and it ain't gonna be cheap.

We probably should have realized something was up when Adobe's own document on Vista compatibility (which we wrote about almost a month ago) dodged the question by stating that Adobe would release free patches for "some of Adobe's currently available products." To our credit, it would have been much easier to spot if they'd said, "some of Adobe's currently available products, but not the ones anyone actually uses or cares about."

Tags: adobe, indesign, photoshop, upgrades, Vista, Windows Vista, WindowsVista

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

RP said 3:45PM on 3-20-2007

Having ported software to Vista, I can understand how hard it would be to port a huge app like Photoshop to Vista. The Vista security model is totally screwy, and there isn't much developer-friendly documentation from Microsoft. Most of the helpful docs are sprinkled around at small web sites. Ugh.

James said 5:30PM on 3-20-2007

So, as a developer with an eye on Vista, could you point me to some summary (perhaps at one of the aforementioned "small web sites") of what effect Vista's security model will have on my stuff? I understand that Vista makes the wall between admins and Joe User accounts a bit higher, but IMHO most people who require admin privs to run their software are doing something wrong in their own designs, unless you're doing something very low-level with the OS like CD burning or talking directly to the graphics accelerator.

I'm not trying to say that *all* software that needs admin rights is poorly written, but boy, there sure is a lot of abuse, and if Vista cuts back on that, I say more power to 'em.

Peter said 7:27PM on 3-20-2007

"I can understand how hard it would be to port a huge app like Photoshop to Vista"
Yeah, but they had more than a year to work on it, and they were going to need to do it anyway for the next versions. Adobe is just being arrogant and showing they don't care about their customers.

I can understand not back-porting older versions, but to not support currently shipping products and telling customers "TS, buy an upgrade" is pretty arrogant.

kuralj said 9:06PM on 3-20-2007

CS3 will NOT be 'out' next week, it will be 'announced' next week.

The products will be available at a later date in Spring 2007.

From:
http://blogs.adobe.com/creativesolutionspr/2007/03/adobe_creative_suite_3_to_be_a_1.html

Quote: "We are announcing Creative Suite 3 on March 27th. However, the software will not ship until later in Spring 2007."

John Dowdell said 10:13PM on 3-20-2007

This headline is incorrect.

Some existing Adobe tools have already received free updaters to run normally atop the new OS. Some will have larger changes and be in future versions of the tools, but not backports to fix old apps under new OS. Depends on the tool, the required changes for the new OS, where each is in its engineering cycle, and the nature of the code changes between versions.

This document has provided best guidance, product by product by product:
http://weblogs.macromedia.com/jd/archives/2007/02/vista_support_f.cfm

"Kuralj" is right... Adobe took the unusual step of announcing the announcement date... expected ship dates for various packages are exected to be known March 27.

jd/adobe

RP said 3:11AM on 3-21-2007

Adobe has (more or less) a monopoly on this market. They can do whatever they want, and we'll still buy their products.

Any other products out there to recommend?

Paint.NET was cool...

Mac vs PC said 6:38AM on 3-21-2007

Yet another reason to get a Mac, or you could purchase Vista, probably a new PC to run Vista, CS3 and most likely not really be any further ahead...

http://www.switchingtomac.com/

Ted said 6:43AM on 3-21-2007

Why is this news? Adobe didn't release interim updates to make their software work better under OS X, or OS X on Intel. It is just the way they do business.

fryke said 6:49AM on 3-21-2007

That's *NO* reason to get a Mac at all. If you buy an intel Mac now and buy Adobe CS 2 for it, it won't run natively, but be emulated in Rosetta. And it's the same thing there: No universal-binary patches for CS 2. Have to buy CS 3 as well. Same thing. It's an Adobe problem, not a Vista problem.

(That said: I'm a Mac user, and yes you SHOULD switch. For other reasons.)

Osloguy said 6:59AM on 3-21-2007

This should indicate to most people that updating to Vista is an expensive affair.

You can't expect Adobe to ship free updates when they have to redesign their product due to changes outside of their control. That microsoft determines to screw other companies (in this case Adobe), should not be counted against Adobe, but microsoft.

Mike said 7:24AM on 3-21-2007

This is BS. It's yet another attempt by Adobe to screw their customers out of more money. I'll stick with my pirated copy of photoshop and windows xp i guess.

Jeremy said 7:32AM on 3-21-2007

I can't believe how much Microsoft screwed up this time. I've been tracking the Vista snafu at http://www.jeremyduffy.com/category/windows/ and it's just amazing how much I'm really thinking about buying a Mac all of a sudden.

A said 7:46AM on 3-21-2007

I work for Microsoft. He is my AIM if you want to discuss this issue further: HomicideGirL09

Mike said 7:55AM on 3-21-2007

not to talk down OSX, Macs are great, but why bother with a whole new system, check out Ubuntu Linux... its free, the apps are free, its stables, and runs smoothly on the desktop environment. I switched about a month ago having never used Linux before, and the install was quicker and less painful than that of any Windows install I've ever done(Win ME - XP) I do minor photo editing, record music, edit HTML, all with free, stable open source software now... and i dont ever need to restart after i install an app like i did in windoze either... Its atleast worth looking into

Boby Ewings said 8:00AM on 3-21-2007

Photoshop CS2 works PERFECTLY on Vista.
WTF ?

Michael said 8:01AM on 3-21-2007

I would think that the purchase price of the new Photoshop Suite (for PC) would be significantly less that buying a Mac - and then having to buy a Mac version of Photoshop. Unless you are able to use your Windows licence on a Mac. In any case, it would still be less expensive to just get the new Photoshop Suite.

Stephen said 8:34AM on 3-21-2007

Alternatives to Adobe programs? Check out osalt.com for a decent list of alternatives.

Personally I'm quite a fan of the GIMP (once you get past the UI changes) and Inkscape as alternatives to Photoshop and Illustrator respectively. And they're free ;)

Adam said 9:19AM on 3-21-2007

Mike - unfortunately most of the Adobe apps don't work on Linux. Unless you want to spend weeks playing with Wine etc to get something that might almost work now n then, Linux is still not an option if you need to use these apps professionally, particularly in a traditional creative work environment (trust me, I've spent a lot of time trying and still end up back on my XP laptop when I'm working at client offices)

Dan said 9:19AM on 3-21-2007

Mike, Linux is completely irrelevant to anyone wanting to run CS3! Anyway, in my opinion, Microsoft has changed the architecture or the OS so greatly that complete software rewrites are necessary, and I can't blame any company that wants to charge for basically a completely new product. The 'poorly' written argument against the charge please remember Microsoft encouraged writing software like this by designing such poor OS in the past. This is Adobe recognizing and telling the masses that Windows is not a great platform for their products, and probably other people's as well. Windows sucks.

benitojuarez said 9:28AM on 3-21-2007

I think this says all that needs to be said.

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/3978/forshameaa7.jpg

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