NEWS FLASH – Adobe has just announced a free public beta release of the eagerly-anticipated Photoshop Lightroom 4, with new tools and advancements to enhance and share your digital photograph library:

“Available as a free public download from Adobe Labs for Windows and Mac, the Lightroom 4 beta is a preview of new features and capabilities that will be offered in the final release of LR4, expected in early 2012.

The beta features refined technology for superior shadow and highlight processing, expanded management capabilities including enhanced DSLR video support and the ability to create beautiful photo books from within Lightroom. Adobe encourages photographers to try the beta release and provide feedback to the product team.”

The news comes six years to the day from the very first beta release of Lightroom 1 on January 9, 2006, where it all started…  Lightroom is Adobe’s digital photography workflow solution helping amateur and professional photographers quickly import, manage, enhance and showcase their images.

And great news – some long-requested new features are here now in LR4…

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Adobe’s Creative Suite 5.5 has been out since May, and has generally been well-reviewed and even lauded as a must-have release…  Nevertheless, some folks are still looking for or require older versions of the software, like CS5.0 or CS4.  Why?

Two common reasons are the higher system requirements – 64-bit for some components of CS5 like After Effects & Premiere Pro, as well as cases where the rest of a customer’s site is still running an older version and would like to add a new setup with the same compatibility. And occasionally some folks say they prefer the earlier, simpler versions over newer ones with more features.

The challenge is, once a new release comes out, Adobe no longer officially sells the older version. So if you need a prior release, what do you do?

If you want the trial version to use for 30 days, that’s easy – Adobe actually keeps most older original trials still available for download on their servers – including all of CS4 and CS5, plus earlier releases of Acrobat, Lightroom, Elements, etc… You can find those trials all linked for download here.

But how about when you want to actually buy CS4 or CS5.0?

If you ask Adobe, they’ll usually tell you to check their official list of authorized resellers & retailers to see if someone still has the version you want in stock. The problem is it’s inconvenient to search as often those stocks are thin or sold out, and no longer available.

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In continuing to provide the direct download links for such major Adobe products as CS5.5, Acrobat X, Elements 10, and Lightroom 3, below you’ll find the DDL for the brand new just-released Adobe Flash Player 11.1 (the final version).  This is important because the free Flash Player is the most widely-used and often-downloaded software in world, and some folks find it easier to access it quickly and directly, without a download manager (e.g., Akamai), or with their own DLM, and without additional products or toolbars included.

Check your current Adobe Flash Player: What version are you running now?

What’s New in Flash Player 11?

Flash Player 11.1 contains dozens of sophisticated new features and enhancements, here are some of the major ones – for more, and more details, see the Official Release Notes:

• Stage 3D Accelerated Graphics Rendering
• Native 64-bit Support Available
• H.264/AVC Software Encoding for Cameras
• Flash Access Content Protection Enhancements
• Native JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) Support
• Asynchronous Bitmap Decoding
• TLS Secure Sockets Support
• Cubic Bezier Curves
• Updated iOS 5 native extensions
• Updated Native text input UI for Android

So, without further ado, here are the direct download links – just click to download and install:

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Adobe Lightroom 3.5 and Adobe Camera Raw 6.5 are now available as final releases, and are free for all current Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 users…

These updates include bug fixes, performance and stability improvements (20 for Lightroom and 9 for Camera Raw), plus support for 27 new lens profiles and 24 new cameras, including the Nikon Coolpix P7100, Olympus E-PL3, and Sony SLT-A77 – and could be some of the last revisions before Lightroom 4 and CS6 come out.

 » Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.5 for Mac OS  (a free update to Lightroom 3)
 » Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.5 for Windows

 » Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.5 for Mac  (a free update to Photoshop CS5)
 » Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.5 for Windows

Read more details about the update including the 29 fixes that were made as well as the new cameras supported, or take a look at the complete list of all Lightroom-supported cameras.

Lightroom 3.5 is a recommended update and is available in 12 languages: English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified).   If you don’t yet own Lightroom 3, Adobe’s free trial download has also now been moved up to version 3.5.

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Continuing our history of providing the direct download links for major Adobe products such as Creative Suite 5.5, Lightroom 3, and Captivate 5, below you’ll find the direct free trial links from Adobe’s servers for the brand new releases of Photoshop Elements 10 and Premiere Elements 10, for both Windows and the Mac OS.

The links given below go to the authentic and secure files residing on Adobe’s servers, are guaranteed genuine and will not change. They are especially useful when you are unable to download Adobe’s free trials via other means – often due to difficulties with the Akamai Download Manager (the Adobe DLM). With the links provided below, you can use your own browser’s download capability, or another download manager of your choice.

For setting up Elements on Windows (both PSE 10 and PRE 10), each program consists of two downloaded files: an .exe and a 7-Zip file (.7z). The .exe file will only work (and install) once the .7z file is fully downloaded and resides in the same location. For the Mac, it’s just a single .dmg file for each program.

[ Find out more with our Elements 10 Release Overview... or see what's new in 10 vs. 9. ]

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You may have heard of the recent releases of Flash Builder 4.5 (formerly Flex Builder, and now part of CS5.5), plus ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder 2…

And we’ve written about this particular offer before, but it bears repeating now that we have these major product refreshes for both Flex and ColdFusion.

Adobe will give you full versions of these premium devel­opment tools ($249 – $1,299 values) absolutely free if you qualify! And if you don’t, you might know someone who does and could benefit…

Free copies of Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 Standard are given for non-commercial use to: (a) students, faculty and staff of eligible educational institutions, or (b) software devel­opers who are affected by the current economic conditions and currently unemployed.

The ColdFusion products are also available for free to educational customers, to use for learning purposes only and not for production use. Complimentary installation support is available, and if you are a teacher and would like ColdFusion 9 for multiple systems in your lab, you can request up to 30 education serial numbers.

So if you can qualify yourself for any of these categories, please go ahead and download your free software here.

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In our tradition of providing the direct download links for major Adobe products such as CS5.5, Acrobat X, Photoshop & Premiere Elements 10, and Lightroom 3, below you’ll find the DDL for the just-released new Adobe Flash Player 10.3 (final version). This is important because the free Flash Player is the most widely-used and often-downloaded software in world, and some folks find it easier to access offline without a download manager (Akamai or Adobe DLM), or with their own DLM, and without additional products or toolbars included.

Check your current Adobe Flash Player version: What version are you running now?

What’s New in Flash Player 10.3?

Flash Player 10.3 improves stability, enhances security and user privacy protection, and provides new desktop video and audio capabilities for enterprises and developers.

Besides a dozen bug fixes, this release contains several new features and enhancements:

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Some of the most visited resources on this site are the direct download links provided for most major Adobe products. So continuing in this tradition, here is a complete set of direct down­load links for all the new Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 software (Windows and Mac), for instant easy access and the ability to use your own download manager or download assistant if you have any difficulty with what Adobe normally employs and need to access the CS5.5 trials without it…

We have also linked the free CS5.5 Extra Content downloads (aka Additional or Functional Content) for all available products.

Below is a table for CS5.5 trial downloads in major languages. These links go to the auth­entic and original CS5.5 files residing on Adobe’s servers, are guaranteed genuine and will not change. For Windows, each program consists of up to two files, an .exe and a 7-Zip file (.7z). The .exe file will only work once the .7z file is fully downloaded and resides in the same location. For the Mac, it’s just a single .dmg file for each program.

The supported languages vary by product. The Western Euro­pean languages can include French/Français, German/Deutsch, Italian/Italiano, Dutch/Nederlands, Danish/Dansk, Finnish/Suomi, Swedish/Svenska, Norwegian/Norsk, Portuguese/Português, and Spanish/Español. To see which product supports which languages, visit the main Adobe trials page and then click on the selection menu for whichever product(s) you’d like to try – it will tell you which languages are currently available.

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Three weeks after its official introduction, Adobe this morning has released Creative Suite 5.5, with major upgrades for mobile, publishing, HTML5, video, audio, and Flash. The CS5.5 configurations are similar to CS5 and the product prices are the same. The new software is available immediately for Windows and Mac via full purchase or discounted upgrade (from as far back as CS2), with delivery via boxed shipment or instant download.

Adobe has simultaneously made CS5.5 free trials available for download (with the new Adobe Download Assistant app). These trials are fully-functional for 30 days and work side-by-side with any previous version(s) of the Creative Suite, including CS5. If you decide not to buy CS5.5 when the trial period is up, you can just uninstall it and your older software will continue to run – while buyers can easily convert their trial to permanent use without reinstalling the software. For upgrades, you can install a trial and then buy an upgrade to convert your trial into a purchased version. (For more informa­tion, refer to the complete Trial FAQ.)

If you have any difficulty with that process, you can instead use the direct download links to get the Adobe CS5.5 trials without the Download Assistant.

The CS5.5 Student & Teacher Editions are also now shipping. These offer up to 80% off the regular prices for education customers including students, teachers, and academic staff. Just be sure you know the key differences between Adobe’s academic versions vs. regular.

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Adobe Lightroom 3.4 and Adobe Camera Raw 6.4 are now available as final releases, and are free for all current Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 owners… These updates include bug fixes, performance and stability improvements (27 for Lightroom and 9 for Camera Raw), plus support for 30 new lens profiles and 13 new cameras, including the Nikon D5100, Canon EOS 600D, and Olympus XZ-1:

 » Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.4.1 for Mac (a free update to Lightroom 3)
 » Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.4.1 for Windows

 » Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.4.1 for Mac (a free update to Photoshop CS5)
 » Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.4.1 for Windows

Read more details about the update including the 36 fixes that were made as well as the new cameras supported, or take a look at the complete list of all Lightroom-supported cameras.

Lightroom 3.4 is a recommended update and is available in 12 languages: English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified).   If you don’t yet own Lightroom 3, Adobe’s free trial download has also now been moved up to version 3.4.

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