Upgrading: RH7 separate product or Tech Comms Suite

Another factor about buying the suite is getting the programs to talk to each other better. I am still learning them, but buying the suite has extra features that allow you to open the programs from within each other and have them automatically update.

I got the student version as a Christmas present, and it has all of the features of the regular version.

Hi,

Thanks for your replies (especially your very thorough post Mal). I really appreciate it.

The comments all seem positive about the TCS, so I will go for the TCS option over separate products. Since I have both FM6 and RHX5 then I should qualify for the upgrade and therefore save my company a few £££s. I was just concerned really that as RH is the main product I use, and as my version is already an upgrade of an upgrade, I really want to make sure I get a brand new version.

I don't suppose the product you admit to having makes any difference to the upgrade price. Even so, I'll give them the FM6 details just to make sure!

Thanks!

Liz

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Originally posted by: lillibetUK
Hi Everybody,

I'm at a point now where I'm looking to upgrade to RH7. I also need a copy of Captivate due to some deadlines that have been set against me.

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Unless you have some pre-existing experience with Captivate, you may find it hard to get all the way up to speed on that product quickly. You may want to look at subscribing to Lynda.com for a month and taking their on-line course. It's Captivate 2, but I'm still finding it useful (as a total Captivate newbie).

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These are the main two products I'm looking at. What I really want to know is who, on this forum, have upgraded to RH7 as a separate product and who has delved in to the Tech Comms Suite? Are there any gotchas?

I already have RH X5, which was an upgrade of an upgrade, and Framemaker 6.0, which I haven't actually had a reason to use since I joined the company. However, I was wondering if it's worth upgrading to the Tech Comms Suite based on the Framemaker 6.0 product.

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As with RandiWrite, I upgraded from RoboHelp X5 (alone; I didn't have any of the other products in the suite though I have CS3 including Acrobat Pro) to TCS. I called Adobe Support for confirmation that I was eligible before buying the product, and they advised that I was. I had no trouble at all installing the suite.

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What I can't find on the website is how does this upgrade work? Would I receive a brand new version of RH7, CP3 and Acrobat3D and an upgrade version of Framemaker 8?

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Essentially you just get a full install package with the whole TC suite on it. I opted for the download from the Adobe store rather than the boxed version since it was slightly cheaper and I was impatient to get it. (Also, they don't deliver to PO Boxes which is the only way I could get delivery since I'm seldom in one place long enough for a courier to find me.) I think that the install procedure checks that you have the existing programs on there, then away it goes and puts the new ones on as well. It didn't remove X5 on my computer; I could do that myself without, I'm pretty sure, any untoward effect on version 7; I just haven't bothered yet.

I seem to recall that when I upgraded to PhotoShop CS3 I had CS2 on one of my two computers but not the other. (I think it was on my notebook but not my desktop.) I was able to install CS3 on the desktop without having to install CS2 first; as I recall, it asked me for some kind of identifying code first to verify that I was already a licenced owner of CS2. (Sorry to be so vague, it was a while ago now.) My point is that Adobe has its act together (in my experience) at letting you do upgrades from older packages. HOWEVER, RoboHelp X5wasn't an Adobe product at the time and doing the upgrade without having the X5 package installed may be more problematic. This is academic in your case since it IS installed.

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The offer of all these products in one suite seems too good to be true.

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It's true; this isn't Microsoft we're talking about here. 8^>

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What happens when just one product is upgraded?

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You pay less, but you get less. But that's ONLY if it's ONE product. Indeed, I found that it would have been more expensive (in Australia at least, I don't know about the UK) for me to upgrade to RH7 and buy Captivate than it was to upgrade to TCS. It's not dumb marketing on Adobe's part, it's actually rather smart. By giving you that value, it gets you to use more of their products (and lets face it, while no software is perfect Adobe's is pretty good), and consequently hooks you in for future versions. I know that RH has imperfections, but I do love it. Same with Acrobat Pro.

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What happens if I then decide that I have no use whatsoever for Framemaker?

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I don't, but I don't care. I may play with it at some point, but the short version is that I still got the products that I DID want (RH7 and Captivate) cheaper than buying them separately and if anything else wants to come along for the ride I'll find it a room on my hard disk.

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Are all the products in the Tech Comms Suite full and proper versions?

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They are indeed. You can take them out in public or to a nice restaurant and have no fear that they'll cause you embarrassment.

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So many questions... I searched for answers but couldn't find any other posts relating to this, so if there is a discussion going on elsewhere then please do point me in that direction.
Can anyone help me make my mind up? Thanks!
Liz

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Go for it. You'll love it. 8^>

Mal.

First you want me to help you make up your mind. Then you don't believe me when I tell you so you are no further forward.

Case proven! :-)

Oh Peter, you tease! ;o))

Yes [re: only one product], that's what I'm talking about. It seems too good to be true?!!

Help a woman make up her mind! There is a limit to what we can do on this forum. :-)

My understanding is that you only have to have one of the products to qualify for the TCS upgrade and that gives you full versions of all the products including those you did not have. You don't have to have a version of each program.

Adobe or your software supplier can confirm that but I'm pretty sure the above is correct.