Adobe offering Creative Suite 2 for free, but they didn't mean to

Jos

Jos

Posts: 3,073   +97
Staff

Earlier this week Adobe made a surprise move by putting its Creative Suite 2 software, as well as individual programs like Photoshop CS2 and Illustrator CS2, up for download on its website along the corresponding serial numbers. Initially it was believed the company got tired of keeping the activation servers running to support legitimate installs of ~8 year-old software and decided to give it away. But that's only partly true.

Turns out Adobe did retire the activation servers used by CS2 back in December, but when legitimate owners of the suite started complaining that without these servers they'd be unable to reinstall their copies if needed, the company began offering versions of CS2 that didn't need activation.

adobe creative suite

Adobe later clarified that in order to legally use CS2 users still require a purchased license, and that the move was just meant to assist its existing customers. Yet the download page and serials are still live.

Considering the software is being offered directly from Adobe's servers, we'd say most people probably won't lose sleep at night for grabbing a copy. If anything, having access to an old but still serviceable copy of Photoshop might deter some from pirating the latest CS6 release. Perhaps Adobe feels the same? Curiously after the news broke a new CS2 download page went live without the requirement to provide an Adobe ID.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/51316-adobe-offering-creative-suite-2-for-free-but-they-didnt-mean-to.html

 
So the cs2 of yesteryears is "free" but the most recent cs6 cloud is still priced 49.99$/month?
 
Sry you pako, you get free fully functional version of high quality soft, but not satisfied? What are you? Super graphic hero? If so, BUY the newest version.
Really like people like you...
 
Very nice. If this is truly intentional I do see it as a way to try the CS series software (even if it is older) legitimately without any strings attached.
 
I think it's a promotional gimmick just like ea which offered free download of ra and ra2 (which run fine on windows 95/98/2k/xp on lower resolutions)
 
Its still up because existing customers still need it to be up, and since many customers don't register then Adobe can't do this 'behind the scene'.
 
Are we sure they haven't put a "30 day crap out" trial shut down script in this puppy? OK, so I'm paranoid and I look gift horses in the mouth. Other than that I'm a nice guy!;)

In any event, CS-2 is 32 bit. All their current offerings run under x64, even "Photoshop Elements 11" (I think they're on version 11).

This move on Adobe's isn't entirely unprecedented. Photoshop Elements, in its very early stages was a two part program. What became the PSE "Organizer" section of Elements, was "Adobe Photoshop Album" (Last offered in conjunction with PSE-2). Photoshop Album became a free offering, albeit loaded with ads for PSE. When they discontinued support for it, they made the organizer section of PSE-8 a freebie. You needed to download the trial version of PSE-8 and allow it to expire. The editor section no longer functioned after 30 days, but the organizer did.

In any event, it's highly doubtful if CS-2 will now be provided with update packages for RAW camera files. If you want to work in RAW, you might need an older DSLR. Every generation and brand of camera has a different RAW file format, all the way down to model specific.

In any event, Photoshop CS-2 is far superior to any of its contemporaries, along with perhaps many of today's programs as well. It includes "Adobe Bridge", a top notch, but memory hungry, file manager. If you have an old XP 32 bit box for it laying around, this is the best deal in imaging software I've ever seen.

I am curious though, if a version of PS this old, will light up more than one CPU core. I guess we'll see.
 
avoidz said:
No such thing as a free lunch.
Click to expand...

Normally I'd agree with you, but what if the lunch was 8 years old?

You can get CS6 for basically half-price off ebay, legit, unopened boxes of the software, meaning there's no reason to buy one from Adobe. I'd guess they just stopped caring about CS2. The version they're allowing you to download is the standard version, not the premium version. I don't know where the idea came from that they didn't mean to do this.
 
Good move by Adobe. Why use one of those half-baked open source programs like Gimp or Inkscape when you can have the real deal? After ppl learn their software they'll be addicted for life.
 
misor said:
So the cs2 of yesteryears is "free" but the most recent cs6 cloud is still priced 49.99$/month?
Click to expand...
I think you missed the point of the "CS-6 Cloud". It's every CS-6 application, not just CS-6 Photoshop.

Granted the individual app rental prices suck, and many, (most), people don't need the whole suite.

There are other factors to consider. For most people, it is a conceit to have Photoshop itself. The PSE editor is very robust, and based in PS anyway. Adobe cripples the PS editor somewhat, they surely don't reinvent the wheel for it. So, version by version, PSE receives PS editor's "hand me downs", as they expand the features in thier flagship image editor.The editor section of today's version of Photoshop Elements, is approaching the capability of PS CS2. anyway. What it lacks primarily, is the ability to edit in lab color and CMYK . So, unless you're sending your work to a lithographer, you have no need for those features.
 
I think this is a GOOD move by Adobe. There are probably a lot of people, who would love to learn photoshop, but do not want to take the multi-thousand dollar plunge. This way, they could learn on an older version (which has many of the standard features of even CS6), and then after learning, could purchase a more current version. Also, instead of buying a new version, then figuring it isn't worth the learning curve and being out hundreds of dollars, they would find less of a reason to pirate it.
 
Well I still run the CS2 package at work to design signs, and it works just fine. Even will use the 2nd core on my aging Athlon 64 x2 4200+ CPU.
Now on my wish list to the boss is a computer upgrade, 64bit Win7, and newer version of CS, but for now CS2 gets the job done fairly well.
 
So if you're going to use it for commercial purposes you should buy a license. If you're a hobbyist or student it looks like they don't care. Like M$ has a non-commercial version of Office.
 
I really think it's a marketing ploy because if everyone can get adobe products running in their machines they will be less inclined to use the competition then once they are addicted they will invest into the cloud or save up for the big investment!

I installed them and with already using cs4 and cs5 before cs2 is pretty behind the times but with people who have nothing it?s really better than what most of the open source programs offer.
 
George V said:
I installed them and with already using cs4 and cs5 before cs2 is pretty behind the times but with people who have nothing it?s really better than what most of the open source programs offer.
Click to expand...
Indeed they are. Photoshop and Photoshop Elements both offer "adjustment layers". I haven't seen freebies that offered anything like them. I'm not sure how to edit an image without them.

Anyway, "assuming" you can get the correct, "Camera RAW" plug in for your cameras, then PSCS-2 or PSE-5 are all you need.

Adobe only coughed these up because they don't want to rework them for Win 7 +8, nor are they willing to update them to run correctly under x64. That's the "marketing ploy". But, I'd call it, "customer herding, willfully, and with malice aforethought".

That said, there are plenty of XP rigs out there, just dying to get their grubby old hard drives on these programs.

In any event PSE-5 runs fast, and offers plenty of editing power for the average bloke, (or blokette, if you will). So, that's the gem everybody seems to be missing. It offers organization and tagging also.

Once upon a time, these early PSE versions were offered as value added software with photo hardware, such as printers and scanners. (Perhaps the newer PSE versions are as well. I just haven't been in the market for hardware for a while).
 
Digital Jedi said:
Interestingly, an expression invented at a time when words like "open source" and "software" didn't exist yet. When it comes to software, there's lots of free lunches, dinners and sometimes brunch.
Click to expand...
In this case, the lunch is free. However, the "Camera RAW" update plug in files for PSCS-2 end at "3.7". That allows you to import RAW files from a Nikon D-80 DSLR, but not from the slightly newer D-90. PSE-5 has a later RAW plug in update, which will import D-90 RAW files. Adobe has no intention of any further updates to PSCS-2, and hasn't for years. So, if you have older cameras, these programs will work for you, if not, you gotta pay, big time. It's planned obsolescence.

As far as your concept of "free breakfast, lunch, & dinner. You're at least partly right, until you see all those "donate" buttons. No calories maybe, but "guilt free", not hardly.

Besides, Adobe still says, "you still need a license to use PSCS-2 (and the others)". So again, not "guilt free", and they're trying to step you up to a subscription software model in the process.
 
captaincranky said:
In this case, the lunch is free. However, the "Camera RAW" update plug in files for PSCS-2 end at "3.7". That allows you to import RAW files from a Nikon D-80 DSLR, but not from the slightly newer D-90. PSE-5 has a later RAW plug in update, which will import D-90 RAW files. Adobe has no intention of any further updates to PSCS-2, and hasn't for years. So, if you have older cameras, these programs will work for you, if not, you gotta pay, big time. It's planned obsolescence.

As far as your concept of "free breakfast, lunch, & dinner. You're at least partly right, until you see all those "donate" buttons. No calories maybe, but "guilt free", not hardly.

Besides, Adobe still says, "you still need a license to use PSCS-2 (and the others)". So again, not "guilt free", and they're trying to step you up to a subscription software model in the process.
Click to expand...
Well, that's really only consequential if your a photographer, and as you know, Photoshop is the standard for far more industries than photography. Hey, even a free porterhouse dinner isn't going to get the vegans excited. Whereas I'll be in line with my own custom steak knife set.
 
Digital Jedi said:
Well, that's really only consequential if your a photographer, and as you know, Photoshop is the standard for far more industries than photography. Hey, even a free porterhouse dinner isn't going to get the vegans excited. Whereas I'll be in line with my own custom steak knife set.
Click to expand...
Actually, if you feel up to it, you can get the entire "Creative Suite 2" for free! Which includes the programs more commonly used in other parts of the imaging industry, no just still photography. The only thing Adobe isn't coughing up is "CS-2 Extended", only the standard version.

In any event, another consideration is that CS-2, in its entirety is 32 bit only. Granted, not a big deal for the average person, only an issue for photographers working on huge panoramas, or digital files from medium format studio digital cameras.

As I said before, "Photoshop Elements 5.0" is all 90+% of us need. Having Photoshop itself is partly ego trip.

I have PSCS-4, which is 64 bit. Adobe allows two concurrent installs. So, I'm thinking of pulling it from a 32 bit XP machine, and putting it in another 64 bit box, for which I have the parts ready to assemble. PSCS-2 will go back into the 32 bit box. Once you convert camera RAW files to .tiff or .psd, you can edit them in the earlier program, losslessly.

PSE 5.0 never required activation, just input a serial number, whereas PSCS-2 did.
 
Adobe seem to have changed the listing a bit since the download frenzy,

Photoshop Elements is gone, Acrobat Pro 8 has been replaced with Pro 7 (I didn't imagine that because I downloaded it along with it's serial, which is now different) and After Effects has been added :confused:

Seems as though there are now certain things they want you to have but not others.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Canva acquires Affinity for $380 million to take on Adobe
Replies
15
Views
252
ZedRM
ZedRM
Shawn Knight
Adobe is paying upwards of $7 per minute for original video content to train AI
Replies
1
Views
81
erickmendes
erickmendes
Daniel Sims
Adobe Photoshop and Firefly receive new AI enhancements, hilarity ensues
Replies
1
Views
15
PanfiloTexas
P

Latest posts

Back