Yes, that's correct - though it may be new to some folks because for several years it was "three versions back"...  But Adobe's upgrade policy has just changed. ... View more

tekwrite1955 wrote: Well it SAYS I need to login to download but I AM logged in and it does not allow me to! Hi, that kind of thing is not uncommon and typically means something has gotten crossed up with the login and session cookies that Adobe sets - and it’s solved by clearing the cookies & cache on your browser and restarting, or trying a different browser, or sometimes trying a different computer and/or Internet connection.  If that still doesn't solve it, some have also had success by logging out, creating a new Adobe account ID, and following the steps one more time.  Hope this helps! ... View more

Hi John, the continued snarkiness maybe isn't so attractive, and perhaps this dialogue is less than interesting or relevant for the good folks here...  I see no point in retreading what I just said so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree - but please know that in over one year of running our site, your missive is the very first of its kind and is vastly outnumbered by scores of positive comments and feedback.  If I took an hour I could put together pages of it, but I think people here would rather see this conversation wrap up. What's interesting is that earlier on up in this thread there was another odd exchange between posters - maybe there's something in the bits here. ... View more

Hi John, I'm sorry you feel that way.  In fact, there are two posts above in this very thread that don't "plug" anything, if you just scroll up a little...  We're trying to fill a need here with the site and if you don't agree that's certainly your prerogative.  But I can assure you there are many, many, many other folks who have been grateful for the help, downloads, answers, videos, savings, insights, and other assistance that we've been providing, and their comments on the blog speak for themselves. Further, if you ask longtime Forum leaders like Bill Hunt and others about how helpful we've been here over the past three months, you'll get a very different and much more positive reaction... (e.g., here and here and here)  And last week Adobe's VP of Engineering for the Creative Suite sent a surprise personal note, "I appreciate all you are doing to improve the experience for CS5 customers."  Adobe is a big company and sometimes they cannot easily move with the speed and nimbleness of a smaller site to address and answer emerging customer service needs and questions. If there's one issue, it's that it takes a lot of time and research to put together our content and it's far easier to refer interested readers to our site, than to carefully recreate a new and complete article local to Adobe Forums that duplicates the content.  I can understand how that might seem like an issue - so once again, my apologies if you're unhappy.  Fortunately, it seems there are many others who have benefited. Be well and have a good weekend. ... View more

genphotosaz wrote: Well are we getting close to the actual release date. Anyone heard anything Might be a good time for an update on this, as it could be just around the  corner now...     http://prodesigntools.com/adobe-lightroom-3-release-date-looking-soon.html Possibly within a matter of weeks. ... View more

Actually the official, authentic Adobe  CS4 free trial downloads remain available for all products and platforms (Windows/Mac) if needed, it's just a matter of finding the proper places to look on Adobe's servers. ... View more

I hear you Bill, and although I don't know for sure, I don't think it was deliberate on Adobe's part...  I just think it was the crush of CS5.  After CS4 got released into the teeth of an economic maelstrom in 2008, Adobe probably wanted to marshal all available resources and bandwidth to help ensure CS5 was a smashing success... For the last major product cycle, it was Lightroom 2 that got released just ahead of CS4, so there it happened to work out the other way around. The good news here is we have two betas now for LR3 so a pretty good idea of what will be coming down the pike in (hopefully) another couple months. ... View more

Yes, you make a good point. I figured out the separation/clarification between what's buzzing now and what's formally coming Monday, but certainly it wouldn't hurt if Adobe put a link to the Buzz/videos site on the Launch page, sort of a change-of-address forwarding link if you like. ... View more

Hmm, OK, well if you've already installed the trial once and don't have another system, that could be trickier... Adobe's "grace period" offer is not widely publicized but is officially called the "post-announce upgrade policy" and requires working directly with Adobe Customer Service.  http://bit.ly/9xYI9p One thing I don't know is whether if you do a new download for a somewhat different product, if you can get a new trial on the same computer...  For example, if you trialed CS4 Design Standard last time, maybe you could still try out Design Premium and get a new 30 days?  It's a good question. ... View more

How about this as a possibility?  You could download and install the trial for CS4 now which would run for 30 days free/fully-functional, by which point CS5 would arguably be close to being released and you would hopefully be in the "grace period" to buy CS4 (convert the trial) and get a free upgrade to CS5 when it ships. This of course presumes that Adobe continues the grace period policy and you can get it.  Another possible benefit is you could move forward now with the more "mature" codebase of CS4 and then upgrade later to CS5 at your leisure.  Worst case is you have CS4 now within the financial year budgeting you want. Anyway, just an idea! ... View more

    Today for planning purposes we completed an analysis on possible timeframes for availability of CS5 in different segments and geographies... We had been reading all kinds of guesstimates, some theorizing as late as October, so thought we'd try to lend some clarity.  It's here if you might find it useful. Adobe CS5 Launches April 12th: When Will it Ship?     ... View more

Wanted to follow up - just completed a full and fresh analysis on this question (details here if you're interested)...  Our best estimate on the release date for Lightroom version 3.0 is shipping in June. ... View more

For CS5 on that date April 12th, I think it's safe to expect not a public beta, but rather the announcement of all the features plus the general availability of the full version (in English) within the following 1-2 months.  With any luck, it should work similarly to how it did with CS4, and CS3 before it. Lightroom is on a different release schedule so I don't think it will coincide...  But the new beta for LR3 means we probably won't be seeing the final version of that for a bit, I'm guessing until once the CS5 dust settles.  On the plus side, this means more time to make a greater LR3 release! ... View more

Relevant followup news, just out!     Adobe CS5 Global Launch will be April 12th     ... View more

If you hadn't seen, CF Builder is also available for free if you qualify...  Just wrote about it, and from checking the terms I believe it extends  internationally as well.     http://prodesigntools.com/new-flash-builder-4-coldfusion-builder-get-them-free.html ... View more

LOL - good one, and good point...  Well at this point 'following the crumbs' and clues is the best we can do, so might as well have fun with it right? ... View more

JimHess is right - anybody who definitively knows is likely under  nondisclosure obligation... One anecdotal approach would be to  go based on release history.  Lightroom 1 and Lightroom 2 came about a  year and a half apart...  Also the releases of the first two versions of  Apple Aperture were similarly timed, and close to the windows when  Lightroom came out.  And now we have recent availability of Aperture 3 - so  if that is any indication, we might look for a launch of Lightroom 3  sometime later this year...  My guess is Adobe would want to stay in close version lockstep with Aperture. And in such event, hopefully Adobe would keep the Lightroom version upgrade price at $99 or less, so that recent buyers could move from 2.x to 3.0 without too much additional outlay. ... View more