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FEBRUARY 12, 2008    

New tools from Adobe

Yesterday I installed the new Adobe CS3 suite of applications. I always put off upgrading software until I'm convinced I can't do without it, and since we are teaching the CS3 versions at school I had to bite the bullet. Even at the highly discounted Education price the Web Premium version set me back $500.

I've opened three applications of the eight or so included in the suite, two that I use every day (Photoshop and Dreamweaver) and one that I want to learn more about (Fireworks). So far most of what I've seen is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Subtle changes to the user interface generally make sense. I haven't been baffled by any of them yet, so that's all to the good.

One of the small changes makes the most sense: the icons for the application are easy to understand.

Screenshot of Adobe icons for Photoshop, Dreamweaver and FireworksIn this screenshot from my iMac's Dock you see pairs of icons, new on the left and old on the right. The consistent new look is much easier to identify than Adobe's former artsy look (the feather for Photoshop) and not nearly as awkward-looking as the old circles-with-letters from Macromedia.

OK, these are all cosmetic changes...what about the real new capabilities and options in the CS3 suite? Well, that will have to wait for another day. After I've used them for a week or so I'll do a more thorough review and let you know whether it was worth $500.

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