Acrobat 8 & Creative Suite 3
Today’s introduction of Creative Suite 3 showcases a chorus line of applications and application bundles from Adobe Systems and Macromedia, the next step in the integration of once-separate products from the once-competing, now-merged companies.
To witness the official launch event and expected product demos, browse over to the Adobe webcast today (March 27) at 3:30 EDT.
Shipping since last fall, Acrobat 8 got the jump on CS3 in several respects, being the first major update that offered a Universal Binary version that runs natively on the newer Intel-based Macintosh computers. The CS3 products–including creative pro stalwarts Photoshop (now in two versions) and InDesign–will now perform significantly faster on the Intel Macs.
But as Adobe executives pointed out to industry analysts and technology media last week during a conference call, many creative professionals may well have delayed purchases of the stand-alone version of Acrobat 8 in anticipation of the CS3 editions. Acrobat 8 is included in four of the six newly configured CS3 integrated bundles–available with CS3 Design Premium ($1799), Design Standard ($1199), Web Premium ($1599) and Master Collection ($2499).
So other than cost, is there any difference in purchasing the stand-alone Acrobat 8 ($449) versus the version included in the CS3 editions? We asked Lonn Lorenz, Creative Suite Product Manager.
Q: Is there anything different in the product, whether you buy it as a stand-alone or as part of one of the CS3 skues that includes Acrobat?
Lorenz: “Acrobat Professional is the same in Suites as it is stand-alone–as far as the product and features go.”
Q: Is the CS3-bundled version of Acrobat more integrated (feature-wise) in any way with the other Adobe applications in a particular bundle?
Lorenz: “No differences from Suite to Suite. There are new integration points in Acrobat 8 Pro with Design Suite–such as synchronized color management settings, direct interaction of Acrobat with native InDesign files, shared components like color profiles and PDF job options.”
Q: Will it have a shared license with the rest of the suite products rather than its own?
Lorenz: “Acrobat Professional, as part of the Suite will use the Suite license, not a stand-alone license. Users with CS2 licenses are NOT encouraged to purchase Acrobat standalone upgrades, but to purchase Suite upgrades to CS 2.3 or CS3 when it is available.”
