Can't install two versions of Photoshop as of May 2019?

[MellaMarie]

Today I encountered a bug that looked like a version issue with Photoshop. The first part of my check is to run an older version and see if the same problem occurs.

Normally I would navigate to the Creative Cloud Desktop app>photoshop>manage>previous versions and just download/run the version I needed parallel to the version i was currently running.

While trying to install a previous version of photoshop today the confirmation said:

"Are you sure you want to install this version of photoshop cc? Installing this version of photoshop cc will remove the one you've currently installed, and any updates you have applied"

uh.... NO? Since when do I have to uninstall my previous version? This is SUPER detrimental to my workflow, as I am unable to compare old and new files at the same time.

interestingly, the official Adobe Help page was literally JUST updated May 2019 and does NOT MENTION anything about uninstalling the previous version as a requirement.

https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/using/install-previous-version.html#

Now... is this a global Adobe policy? Or is this something that is possibly controlled by the account administrator of our enterprise license?  Please, any help is much appreciated.

[Colin Holgate]

There may have been recent changes in the help pages in connection with previous versions now only being the last three major updates.

Photoshop has had quite a few minor updates, and all of those were tweaks to the same version. If you need to install the previous major version of Photoshop, you would need to take the 19.x one, and not one of the 20.x ones. Same with Illustrator, you would have to go back to 22.x and not take one of the 23.x one.

You could install the 19.1.8 version of Photoshop, and although reporting that there is a problem in 20.0.4 that wasn't in 19.1.8 isn't as useful as saying it was ok in 20.0.3, it would still get looked into.

[John T Smith]

I think it is current and one previous Changes to Creative Cloud Download Availability | Adobe Blog

[Nancy OShea]

Before the Adobe policy change limiting  legacy CC version access to this current one and the major release behind it ,  I had older Photoshop versions installed on my computer.  I am on an individual plan so those older versions are still installed on my system and I can still launch them from my computer's start menu.  The only difference is that they are not showing up in my CC Desktop application.

If you're on an Enterprise plan, your administrator has in all likelihood taken Adobe's recommendation and uninstalled older/unauthorized versions for legal reasons.  I suggest you talk to your administrator.