Buy CS2 now or wait for CS3

They always used to give a free upgrade to anyone who bought "just before" a new version came out.

But that was before the days of the Public Beta. We are on whole new territory now. I’d suggest a call to customer services to see if they have a new policy on this.

I just got off the phone with Customer Service. The word "announced" in the upgrade policy is that it means "anounced to be available for purchase".

That means the CS-3 BETA, is a play with at your own risk product, but that it does not count as the product announcement.

That seems reasonable to me.

Bill

I just bought CS2 about two weeks ago. Before I bought it I contacted Adobe Customer Service and asked if there was a new version being planned for release. I was told that no new version was going to be released. Two days after I received my package Adobe announced the release of the Beta version of CS3. I am now trying to get a refund from Adobe.

Philip

Adobe didn’t think this through did they?

By releasing a public beta and hinting at a release date of May 2007, they will have made a lot of potential buyers think twice about forking out on CS2 now.

I do feel they should have worked out some sort of preferential terms for those new customers faced with the price of an upgrade only six months after the initial purchase.

Adobe have certainly thought it through (with exception of hiring the person who told Philip that no new version was going to be released).

It has been public knowledge the CS3 would ship in "Spring" or "Q2" of 2007 for ages.

More interesting is this little snippet from the CS3 beta FAQ:

Q. If I buy Photoshop CS2 today in order to get access to the Photoshop CS3 beta, will I get a free upgrade to Photoshop CS3?
A. No. The rich feature set and productivity enhancements of Photoshop CS2 already provide a strong upgrade value, and the opportunity to preview the upcoming CS3 release is an additional bonus.
In addition, customers who are still using Photoshop version 6.0 or earlier will benefit from taking advantage of a more liberal upgrade policy for Photoshop CS2. Adobe will not offer upgrade pricing more than three versions back on Photoshop CS3.

The "three versions back" bit is interesting!

Adobe didn’t think this through did they?

I tend to think they did think it through.

By releasing a public beta and hinting at a release date of May 2007, they will have made a lot of potential buyers think twice about forking out on CS2 now.

Sure, some users will wait. On the other hand, the change in upgrade policy (starting with CS3 upgrade pricing is available to only the previous 3 releases) will definitely make it worthwhile for those still sitting on the fence with versions 6 and older to upgrade now. It’s the old "win some, lose some" but on the whole it’s got to be advantageous to get users off those very old releases. I think it will be a net gain for Adobe.

I do feel they should have worked out some sort of preferential terms for those new customers faced with the price of an upgrade only six months after the initial purchase.

I believe Adobe has always given users who purchased a version immediately prior to the new release a free upgrade if they contacted Adobe and asked for it. But the key is "immediately before". That’s reasonable. But why would you expect to get a discount for purchasing six months prior? That doesn’t make good business sense. You have full use for the entire six months and you aren’t forced to upgrade immediately to the new version — you’ll have three future versions you can set through before you lose your upgrade pricing. It’s possible Adobe may decide to prorate the upgrade for a purchase made not immediately but a reasonably short time frame prior to the new release, but we will have to wait and see on that one. But, I would think six months is beyond reasonably short.

Just my opinion. You’re entitled to your own.

Thank you all for your comments. I looked through Adobe’s web site but it seems as if Adobe hasn’t finalized a release date yet. Since about 1 Dec, MS has free upgrades to Vista for those who purchased XP. My thinking was the beta would be final in the Spring ’07 (March timeframe), and it would not be unreasonable for Adobe to have a similiar policy.

I do agree that 6 months or so is a bit much for free upgrades. For those PS CS2 gurus using the free beta, you are ahead of the learning curve. However, for the novice such as myself, two learning curves are a bit much. Santa was generous this year but Visa is demanding, so I’ll wait for the new release.

I purchased PSCS2 just a few weeks ago. Before I bought it though, I contacted Adobe Customer Service and asked them if a new version was going to be released any time soon. I was told by Adobe that no new release was planned. My package arrived just two day before Adobe announced the release of CS3 Beta. I am now trying to get a refund from Adobe or a free upgrade to CS3 when the final release is made avaliable.

What makes you think you’re entitled to a free upgrade because of a beta release? The final release of CS3 is about 5 months away.

Adobe does have a 30 day money back policy so go right ahead and do it. Of course you’ll be without the software but that’s your choice.

Bob

Since about 1 Dec, MS has free upgrades to Vista for those who purchased XP.

vista was released to businesses sometime in oct or november. people who are buying systems. the product is already shipping. cs3 is still months away.

vista was released to businesses sometime in oct or november. >>people

who are buying systems. the product is already shipping. >>cs3 is still months away.

I believe it was released to MSDN subscribers and since they pay to be MSDN subscribers, that is a good thing.

It was not released to the Dell’s of the world. While doing Santa’s shopping for my new system (I looked at Dell and others), the best I could get from all of them was a free upgrade to Vista, once Vista is released to the general public.

I’m not trying to get something for nothing; I’ll just wait. I was trying to find out if anyone had heard of an upgrade policy. I can only surmise from these posts that it is too soon, and, most likely, XX days before release, Adobe will announce their upgrade policy. I’ll keep an eye out for it.

QUOTE–Robert Levine – 7:00am Dec 30, 06 PST (#9 of 11) Edited: 30-Dec-2006 at 07:02am

What makes you think you’re entitled to a free upgrade because of a beta release? The final release of CS3 is about 5 months away.

Adobe does have a 30 day money back policy so go right ahead and do it. Of course you’ll be without the software but that’s your choice.

Bob — END QUOTE

If you are replying to me, I feel I am entitled to a free upgrade because I asked Adobe if there was a new released planned before I purchased CS2. I was told that no new release was planned and then two days after I recieved the software Adobe announced a planned release of a new version. Had I known a new release would be announced I would have waited. What’s so hard to understand about that?

Either the person you spoke to was a complete idiot or you misunderstood. There is no immediate release coming. But to think that there would be no CS3 ever would be a bit of a reach.

Bob

Nobody reads Post#5.

Bob,

I have the message from Adobe. A subsequent message from Adobe stated that Customer Service was not qualified to answer my original question and that I should have contacted the Sales Department and spoken with a sales rep. Who knew? I figured that Adobe Customer Service was the best place to ask a question about future releases.

No, I did not think that there would never be a new release, but after asking I did feel it would be a year or more. I NEVER expected an announcement two days after I received my package. I have been a Photoshop Elements user since Version 1 and after many debates with myself I decided to move to CS2. What a bitter pill it was when I read the announcement! I hope this helps to explain the reasons for my feelings.

So, what is the bottom line for me? I am going to return CS2 and then purchase CS3 this spring. I can reinstall Elements and use it until the new release. Just really disappointed in Adobe Customer Service.

Philip

Adobe has a long standing policy on free upgrades…if you buy the "current version" -AFTER- the new version has been officially announced (and by "announced" it means, announcing the new product and stating an exact shipping date), users who buy -AFTER- the announcement will receive a free upgrade.

Adobe stated they "planned to ship Creative Suite 3" in Q2, 2007…that’s not a product announcement, that’s an indication of when to expect a new upgrade…

So, if for example (and this is an example only) they expect to ship Photoshop CS3 May 1st, Adobe will make an announcement 30-45 days BEFORE the ship date….so, anybody buying Photoshop CS2 AFTER the announce date will be entitled to a free upgrade to CS3.

The fact that Adobe has released the "beta" of Photoshop CS3 has not altered Adobe’s policy on free upgrades…nor it’s policy of a 30 day full return…

When the person who bought CS2 asked if a new version was being released-the person at Adobe who said "no" was technically correct. There has been no actual product announcement regarding Photoshop CS3 other than to say "Q2, 2007".

If your purchase is less than 30 days old, you can get a total refund (minus shipping I think). If you do that, you won’t be able to run the CS3 beta since it requires a CS2 serial number to activate.

Is this situation complicated? Yes…by the fact that Adobe took the unusual approach of actually stating when Creative Suite 3 was planned (they never have done that) and the fact they released a public beta (they’ve never done that either). But, their policies haven’t changed…

John Joslin:

I went back and read your post (#5.) You made a good point: a new release of CS3 was public knowledge.

The following is a copy of the responce I recieved from Adobe:

Notes to Customer
Friday, December 1, 2006 5:57:58 PM PST
Hello Philip,

Thank you for contacting Adobe Customer Service.

For your records, your customer ID number is xxxxxxxxxx. The customer ID number is the easiest way for us to access your account in our database. In the future, please reference this number when you contact Adobe.

As of right now there is no information regarding a Creative Suite 3.0. There has been some talk about it but nothing definite. I believe you can feel secure purchasing the 2.3 version at this tim.

If there is a release in the near future please feel free to give us a call regarding a post-announce upgrade.

For more information on Adobe® products or services please visit us at: <http://www.adobe.com> or contact Adobe customer services at 1 (800) 833-6687. Customer Service Representatives are available 6:00am-8:00pm PST, 7 days a week.

Best Regards,

Jessica S.
Adobe Customer Service

Thats it. This is why I purchased CS2 instead of waiting for CS3.

Philip

On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 01:52:59 -0800, "John Joslin" wrote:

Adobe have certainly thought it through (with exception of hiring the person who told Philip that no new version was going to be released).

It has been public knowledge the CS3 would ship in "Spring" or "Q2" of 2007 for ages.

More interesting is this little snippet from the CS3 beta FAQ:
Q. If I buy Photoshop CS2 today in order to get access to the Photoshop CS3 beta, will I get a free upgrade to Photoshop CS3?
A. No. The rich feature set and productivity enhancements of Photoshop CS2 already provide a strong upgrade value, and the opportunity to preview the upcoming CS3 release is an additional bonus.
In addition, customers who are still using Photoshop version 6.0 or earlier will benefit from taking advantage of a more liberal upgrade policy for Photoshop CS2. Adobe will not offer upgrade pricing more than three versions back on Photoshop CS3.

The "three versions back" bit is interesting!

I started using PhotoShop 3 which came with my flatbed scanner. I then upgraded to version 5. After that, I upgraded to version 7, but in order to upgrade to version 7, I had to either have Photoshop 4 or newer installed on my computer, or, have the full version of Photoshop 4 or newer CD. Back then, they were using the "three versions back" policy.
The problem with all these upgrades is that when I get a new computer, and want to install the latest version of PhotoShop, I can’t just install it from the upgrade CD, I have to install version 3, then version 5, then version 7, and now version CS3. I can’t just insert the version 5 CD when I’m trying to install version 7 and it asks for a full version of PS 4 or newer, because it’s an upgrade, and the new install won’t install without the full version CD.
Last year I wrote to Adobe and asked them if I could send them all my copies of PhotoShop (3, 5, and 7), and enclose a check for the upgrade to CS2, would they send me the full version instead of the upgrade, and they said no. Go figure.
As for the free upgrade to version CS3, any decent software company will always give it’s customers 12 months of free upgrades to any of their products. Considering how much PhotoShop costs, they should offer the same deal. Why? Suppose you called Adobe and got the same response that there was no new version coming out, so you bought version CS2. A month later you pick up a new computer magazine and in it is an ad for the newly released CS3. Why should you be required to pay for a newer version of software that you just bought? As much as I love the software, I don’t care much for the company. As long as Photoshop has been around, there is no reason to charge what they do for it. It’s not as if they are redesigning the software from the ground up, they’re just adding some new bells and whistles to it. They’ve made their money on it, so why is it still $600? The fact that they will sell it to students for $200 tells you what it should cost.
It’s not that I have it in for Adobe, I can afford PhotoShop, but it’s the many other people I have talked with who would really like to have it, but can’t afford it….people who could genuinely benefit from using it.
One such person is my nephew, who at 10 years old was writing software for games. He can’t afford PS, and he’s not a
student…well, at least not in college, he’s now in the 9th grade. If PS was $200, I’d have given it to him for Christmas, but I can’t afford $600 for a present these days.
Adobe needs to understand how many potential customers they are losing by charging too much for their software.

Talker

As of right now there is no information regarding a Creative Suite 3.0. There has been some talk about it but nothing definite.

That is pretty clear. There was no official word about CS3. There probably wasn’t, from her point, until she heard about the public beta. She admitted that there was some talk.

If you feel upset, you can return the software. But I doubt you will get Adobe to give you the free upgrade.

If PS was $200, I’d have given it to him for Christmas, but I can’t afford $600 for a present these days.
Adobe needs to understand how many potential customers they are losing by charging too much for their software.

Talker

Just a thought, your nephew is a student, have you tried to get it for him through that? When I purchased mine, all I needed was a student id and class schedule.
Rob

On Mon, 1 Jan 2007 08:34:23 -0500, "Scubabix" wrote:

If PS was $200, I’d have given it to him for Christmas, but I can’t afford $600 for a present these days.
Adobe needs to understand how many potential customers they are losing by charging too much for their software.

Talker

Just a thought, your nephew is a student, have you tried to get it for him through that? When I purchased mine, all I needed was a student id and class schedule.
Rob

Hi Rob! Thanks for the reply. Well, in 9th grade, they don’t have ID’s. Also, the class schedule is something they write down in their notebook. It’s not issued like it is in college.
When my kid was in college, I went with her to the college bookstore where she got all her books and software for the coming semester. That’s where she picked up her copy of PhotoShop. Of course she needed her student ID to buy it. That was about 6 years ago, so I assumed I still needed to go to a college to get it, and also needed a student ID. I guess I could drive all the way down there and see if someone would buy it for me, but if noone did, then I’d have driven all that way for nothing.<g>
My nephew will be in college in a few years, so I guess he’ll be able to get it then.
Again, thanks for the reply, and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Talker

I better add something to my earlier post. Customer Service refered me to Sales where I got the information I posted.

Bill

I NEVER expected an announcement two days after I received my package.

A couple of days after buying CS2, I got an email offer for $50 off CS2 if I BUY NOW!!!

D’oh!

One is welcome to endlessly argue how they think Adobe should handle its upgrades but common sense seems to indicate that the end of a product lifecycle is a poor time to purchase.

With educational/instructor user status I confess my pity is reserved on these issues. 🙂

One is welcome to endlessly argue how they think Adobe should handle

its upgrades…

It’s not that. They sent the email for $50 off as a result of my registering my brand new copy of CS2……It wasn’t retroactive, if that helps ;o)

Just one of the many benefits that automation and technology brings to our doorstep.

The ‘endless arguing’ comment was not directed to anyone in particular so I hope you did not take it personally.

Even with a $50 discount, who is really benefiting from a discounted sale this late in the product cycle? Adobe is just trying to move old stock from their shelves so they do not have to dispose of it.

No, I didn’t take anything personally. I don’t like product/people/pet-bashing either.

This happened last summer, so CS3 was only a faint glimmer.

Eric,

My "out of the store" computer came with a free for shipping and handling charge coupon for Vista BASIC. As I haven’t seen anything new I can use in Vista, I’m sticking with XP-Home SP2.

bill, i’d order it just to have the license. free is free after all… better than paying for it later.

Dave,

From what I have seen of the specifics, I’d have to go to a higher level to get to the level XP is at. That puts me back to buying it retail.

Sounds a bit like a different thread on rumors of rumors that Photoshop CS3 will come in different "flavors" at different prices with a LOT more basis in fact.

Bill

true, but if you have a lower level vista license, you should get a break on upgrading it to a higher level… what part of "free" aren’t you understanding! 🙂