Late last week we received these two inquiries via our Contact page:

“Could you please provide a proposed release date for CS6 Design Premium software? I can’t see anywhere on your site where this is mentioned except for the U-turn regarding upgrade policy from earlier versions.”

“I have a budget meeting tomorrow and need to know the approximate release date and projected cost of the CS5 to CS6 Master Collection Suite upgrade.”

So, this is something people really want to know now.  And we have written about it before, giving clues in posts here as far back as March and July of last year…

But it’s clearly time for an update.

Even today, we wish we could give you exact dates and numbers for those questions, but Adobe hasn’t publicly disclosed that information – and likely won’t until CS6 is launched… However, we can make a best estimate of the possible timing for the Creative Suite 6 release window.

On Adobe’s site now there is a document referencing the new CS Release Schedule.  Here are a few of the key elements contained within this Message Summary:

New CS Release Schedule

To enable customers to successfully capitalize on these industry trends, Adobe is innovating quickly and we are introducing a new release schedule for Creative Suite:

• In order to keep customers ahead of these industry trends, we will issue midcycle releases in between our traditional milestone releases.
• We are extending the time between milestone releases to two years.
• There will be one midcycle release during each cycle. So, once every 12 months there will definitely be a substantial release for CS.
• Since features in the midcycle release are primarily focused on keeping users ahead of the industry trends at that time, not all point products will be revised in a given midcycle release.
• This new Release Schedule debuts … with CS5.5 as the first of these midcycle releases.

So reading between the lines here – if milestone (new major number) releases will be every two years, and if every 12 months there will be a new version of Creative Suite coming out, then taking the CS5.5 launch date of May 2011 and adding twelve months would give an expected CS6 shipping date in the May 2012 timeframe.

Of course, software development schedules are never exact, and your mileage may vary – but this is about the best estimate right now from public information.

What else do we know about CS6?

First and foremost, Creative Suite 6 will continue to be available in all the forms you’re used to today with CS5 – download or boxed, full or upgrade, individual or suite, perpetual (perma­nent) or subscription. And based on the Message Summary document, all major products are likely to receive substantial revisions and new features.

What about pricing? There have been no announcements in this regard – but since Adobe just postponed their change in upgrade policy, your best price estimate for modeling purposes has to be to use what’s in place now for CS5, for a similar product or upgrade.

Current CS3, CS4, and CS5 customers will be able to upgrade to their choice of CS6 products. CS2 customers can still upgrade to CS5.5 now, but will be too far back to receive discounted upgrade pricing to CS6. However, there may be a brief grace period where anybody (including CS2 users) could upgrade to CS5/CS5.5 and then receive a free further upgrade to CS6, if Adobe continues what they’ve done after past Creative Suite announcements. Stay tuned here as we’ll have quick news of that if it’s offered.

Adobe will also be offering a Creative Cloud alternative (where access to the software is rented monthly by paid membership) but — and there’s a lot of misunderstanding here — the cloud will be completely optional and not required by any customer (either existing or new) to buy or use it… In other words, it is an addition – not a replacement.

We also now know that Adobe’s two new products Edge and Muse will not be part of CS6, and will be available via separate subscription or cloud only. At the same time, we know that Adobe Acrobat, Lightroom, and Photoshop/Premiere Elements will not be affected by any cloud or upgrade changes.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 – a Sneak Peek?

Did you catch the little “sneak peek” video that Adobe slipped out on YouTube last week, presumably a first look at what’s to come in Photoshop CS6?

[UPDATE (February 1st) – A 2nd sneak peek of Photoshop CS6 has also just been released.]

There were some interesting details revealed – confirming longtime rumors, Photoshop is getting a darker and redesigned user interface that allows for a more immersive experience and consistency between other Adobe applications, plus rich cursor support that gives a floating heads-up of significant brush metrics right near the action. And as is customary, Photoshop CS6 will continue to use the same new Adobe Camera Raw 7 processing engine that’s also available now in the free Lightroom 4 beta release.  ACR 7 has been rewritten and can do some pretty amazing things very quickly, as shown in the video.

Check out what it does to this iPhone camera shot of Paris – how easily it brings up the foreground without blowing out the background, recovering highlights and boosting clarity for a more compelling image using just a few sliders…

Just roll over with your mouse (or tap) for the before and after results:

So the video is definitely worth two minutes of your full-screen time if you haven’t seen it yet – and we’re likely to get more previews in the coming months because it’s titled “#1″ in a new YouTube playlist Adobe created called “Sneak Peeks”:

What other features coming in CS6?

Well, of course we also have the possibility of the stunning Photoshop Image Deblurring feature that Adobe demoed at MAX last fall – but from what PS Senior Product Manager Bryan O’Neil Hughes said earlier, it sounds like a long shot for deblurring to make the CS6 release.

It seems more likely we could see some of the other MAX feature sneak peeks finding their way into CS6 products, including Liquid Layout for InDesign, plus 3D Video Meshes, Auto-Align New Dialogue Track, and Auto-Sync Crowd-Sourced Video for Premiere Pro & After Effects, as well as all the rest of the sneak peek demos.

Related Posts

• Adobe Confirms Release Cycle for Creative Suite; CS6 Out Mid-2012
• Adobe Photoshop CS6 – Another Look? More Sneak Peeks [VIDEO]
• Acrobat & Lightroom: Impact of Creative Cloud and Upgrade Changes
• The New Adobe Creative Cloud: What It Is and Why You Should Care
• CS5.5 or CS6? New Adobe “Sneak Peek” Preview Videos Out

[UPDATE (Jan. 11th) – Adobe relents, says upgrade discounts to CS6 from CS4 & CS3 are back!]

Adobe has publicly confirmed what they’ve been hinting for a while now: a new annual release schedule for the Creative Suite – with milestone releases in even years, and mid-cycle releases in odd years.  The shift comes as the technology world turns faster from the previous cycles of 18-24 months historically.

Adobe didn’t actually say what future CS versions would be named or called – but for the sake of simplicity, let’s presume they continue with the established trend…

This means after CS5 in 2010, and CS5.5 in 2011, we could reasonably expect CS6 to be coming out in 2012, CS6.5 in 2013, CS7 in 2014, and so on.

They also gave guidance on “when” during each year, the expected timing for the launches… What’s more (and importantly), Adobe Photoshop will be getting a significant upgrade in CS6, after relatively minor updates for CS5.5.

Read on below for the specific details from the recent conference call and subsequent question and answer session… Or just read the full transcript.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen

… We successfully launched Creative Suite 5.5, an update to the CS5 product family. The release features enhancements for mobile content and application creation, new innovations for HTML5 and Flash authoring, and amazing new features and produc­tivity improvements in our video authoring solutions.

CS5.5 is the first release in our transition to an annual release cycle, enabling us to deliver content creation innovations to our customers more frequently in response to the rapidly evolving marketplace.

Looking forward, expect this type of innovation to continue. We intend to ship the next milestone release of Creative Suite in 2012, and it will include an updated version of Photoshop.

Okay – that’s very good to know, helps reduce on the guessing – but when exactly next year will CS6 (or whatever the next major version of Creative Suite is called) be planned?

Question

As far as the annual release cycles for CS, should we expect that the timing is going to be kind of consistent during one time of the year – like we’ll see CS every year in the April-May timeframe, or will it be kind of variable each year?

Adobe CEO

With annual releases, we’re still very focused right now on 5.5 and … continuing to drive through that cycle until we release the next version. But I think it is fair to say that when we go to an annual release, the cadence will be about the same quarter because that’s what really enables us even with enterprises to get to be far more of an annual release cycle and have maintenance be a more meaningful part of the business.

Question

As you move to more of an annual cycle, will we see a condensation of when the languages roll out?

Adobe CEO

Yes, so as we did with CS5 itself, we are moving to a more consistent release schedule where all major languages are released at the same time. The reality is, we’re in a global world and so the day we announced the product, the interest – whether it’s in North America, whether it’s in another part of the world – is consistent. So yes, expect to see us do simultaneous releases of all major languages moving forward.

So, since CS5 came out in spring 2010, and CS5.5 in spring 2011 – basically this signals we’re looking at CS6 being launched in the spring of 2012, in English and other major languages at once.

But what’s this about a new release of Photoshop, features for the next version – what’s going to be in Photoshop CS6?

Adobe CEO

And I think people are looking forward … to the next release as well, because there’s a significant anticipation that’s being built up for all the cool things that we can do in imaging with Photoshop – and there’s a lot of exciting stuff underway.

Bottom line, knowing the future release schedule takes a lot of uncertainty out of the process… There’s always another release coming at some point, but now we know when. Historically, there have been folks who have held off buying Adobe software because they weren’t sure if that next version was “right around the corner” – where they would feel sheepish if they purchased just before that event. But now, knowing the release windows, you know what to expect – and can make an educated and informed purchase. We commend Adobe for changing their policy and making this information more public.

Listen to the entire conference call here, or read the transcript for more details.

And if you’re still on an older version like CS2, CS3, or CS4 and have been waiting, you might want to upgrade now because those upgrade discounts will no longer be offered for CS6!

[Photo credit: Adam Hart-Davis, Atacama Desert, Chile, South America.]

Related Posts

• When is Adobe CS6 Being Released, including Photoshop CS6?
• Adobe Photoshop CS6 – Another Look? More Sneak Peeks [VIDEO]
• CS5.5 or CS6? New Adobe “Sneak Peek” Preview Videos Out
• When is Adobe CS6 Coming Out?
• Adobe Creative Suite 5 Is Now Shipping!

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.

If you need more than one copy of any product, check out Adobe volume licensing for price discounts and ease of management, plus other benefits.

CS 5.5 ships in English today, with up to 24 other languages to follow shortly – including Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. The system specifications for all CS5.5 products are virtually identical to those for CS5.

Related Posts

• Download Adobe CS5.5 Trials: Direct Links (no Assistant or Manager)
• Grace Period for Free Upgrade to New Adobe CS5.5
• Is There a Photoshop CS5.5? No, But There’s a Photoshop CS5.1
• Adobe CS5.5 is Out!
• Adobe CS5.5 vs. CS5 Comparison – What’s the Difference Between?

Yes – Adobe CS5.5 has just been announced with all the details… Pretty much on the time­frame we forecast, you can learn about and order any of the new products or suite editions, or download a free CS5.5 trial. And while the version and software have changed, the boxes look much the same as before.

For this “mid-cycle release” coming one year after CS5 first arrived, Adobe is offer­ing similar configurations and prices, but with most of the individual products receiving additional features, enhanced functionality, updated technol­ogies, or nice performance boosts.

Overall we present some highlights here, but see our two companion “what’s new” articles for: (1) an overview of the key differences between CS5 and CS5.5, including what’s been added and what’s been taken away, and (2) a detailed product-by-product review of the significant new features and enhancements in CS5.5.

Why CS5.5? — Industry Landscape is Rapidly Changing

• A year ago, Android was just starting to gain traction, and the iPad was brand new
• Emerging web standards like HTML5 and CSS3 were very early in their adoption
• Proliferation of devices and their need for rich design & interactivity, content & apps
• Trend towards “video and media everywhere,” any time, any place, on multiple screens
• CS5 is evolving to keep ahead of this fast-changing, cross-platform marketplace
• CS5.5 capitalizes on these key trends with major focus on mobile, media, and video
• The next major revision of Creative Suite (CS6) won’t be out for quite some time

CS5.5 Pricing, Upgrades, Availability, and Requirements

The CS5.5 Price Sheet shows the complete pricing for the full versions in major geographies and currencies.  Upgrade pricing from older versions (CS2, CS3, and CS4) has edged up a bit, by 5%-19%. The cost to upgrade from CS5 to CS5.5 ranges from $119-$179 for the individual point products, and $299-$539 for the suites. If you’re considering upgrading from your current tools, here’s a helpful upgrade guide with the discount levels.

For education customers, the CS5.5 Student & Teacher Edition prices and line-up remain the same, at up to 80% off. Learn the benefits and limitations of Adobe’s academic versions.

If you need to run multiple users with Creative Suite, check out the volume license program. Adobe is also now offering a subscription option for new purchases of full commercial products (not for upgrades or students/education).

The hardware requirements for CS 5.5 are essentially identical to those for CS5. Premiere Pro CS5.5 and After Effects CS5.5 continue to be 64-bit-only products, however all of the other applications will run well on both 32-bit and 64-bit systems. And the new suite editions do still include the CS4 versions of Premiere Pro and After Effects for the benefit of those still on 32-bit computers.

Adobe has also put together an excellent FAQ that addresses a lot of general questions. And the online documentation for all CS 5.5 applications just went up. There have also been several “Ask a CS Pro” Q&A sessions where Adobe experts answer popular questions about the new release.

And similar to other Adobe software, you may be able to install and run CS5.5 on up to two computers, subject to the terms of the software’s license agreement.

So all this new software has been officially announced, but when will CS5.5 be shipping?
Adobe tells us the date it will be coming out is in early May available now!

Read more about how CS5.5 is different in other ways, or see the new featuresets within each product, or download any of the free trials.

Lastly, one of the frequently asked questions for CS5.5: If you’re still running an older version like CS2, CS3, or CS4, there is currently a grace period in effect where if you buy or upgrade to CS5 now, you’ll get a further free upgrade to CS5.5 once it is released…

Related Posts

• Adobe Releases CS5.5 – Now Shipping plus Download Free Trials
• Adobe CS5.5 vs. CS5 Comparison – What’s the Difference Between?
• What’s New in Adobe CS5.5 Upgrade? A Product Feature Overview
• CS5.5 or CS6? New Adobe “Sneak Peek” Preview Videos Out
• Adobe CS6 Upgrade Policy Changes Postponed! CS3 & CS4 on Track

Adobe has just unveiled Creative Suite 5.5 – and one of the upgrade questions people are asking is what’s new, what’s different, what’s changed in CS5.5 as compared to previous version(s)? So our job here is to give you a quick “cheat sheet,” or guide to the updates. Adobe calls it “the most compelling release yet” and these kinds of answers can help decide about upgrading…

You may be wondering, why a Creative Suite 5.5? What happened to CS6? See what Adobe’s CEO says about it, or read our launch overview… You might also be interested to know that a CS6 release won’t be out until a long time from now.

CS5.5 updates most of the individual products, but not all… The 11 upgraded applications are: InDesign, Dreamweaver, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Flash Pro, Flash Catalyst, Flash Builder, Audition, Acrobat X Pro, Media Encoder, and Device Central.   Learn more about the new features added to these applications in detail, with our special coverage.

The CS5 tools not revisioned to CS5.5 are Photoshop (Extended), Illustrator, Fireworks, and Contribute.

While Photoshop officially remains at CS5, there is a new Photoshop Touch SDK (Software Development Kit) that allows developers to create companion apps for desktop and mobile use… Read about 3 of the coming tablet apps, or find out more and see a demo of the new Photoshop functions running on the Apple iPad and Motorola Xoom.

In general, Adobe is placing a big focus on broad, multiplatform mobile content development with this release, using with the latest standards. And if you work with video, you’ll notice sweeping performance enhancements in CS 5.5 that enable you to work faster.

All of the suites – Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, Production Premium, and Master Collection – have been upgraded. Two new products have been added to the suites: Adobe Audition CS5.5 – with a new version joining the Creative Suite family for both Windows and Mac, and taking over for Soundbooth CS5 – and as widely expected, Adobe Acrobat X Pro – which was released in November and replaces Acrobat 9 Pro.

All other suite configurations remain the same – with the exception of Flash Builder, which improves from the 4.0 Standard version to the new 4.5 Premium edition in all packages.

You can also view comparisons from earlier versions of the Creative Suite, for example CS4 vs. CS5.5, or CS3 vs. CS5.5.

Read more about the new functions within each product (a detailed comprehensive list), or download a free trial instantly. Or see a review of Adobe’s “What’s in CS5.5 for Me?” Q&A session.

CS5.5 pricing across the board remains roughly in line with it was for CS5, with slight cost increases for some upgrades. Adobe is also offering a subscription option for new purchases of full commercial products (not for upgrades or students/education).

Lastly, one of the frequently asked questions for CS5.5: If you’re still running an older version like CS2, CS3, or CS4, there is currently a grace period in effect where if you buy or upgrade to CS5 now, you’ll get a further free upgrade to CS5.5…

Related Posts

• Adobe Releases CS5.5 – Now Shipping plus Download Free Trials
• Adobe CS5.5 is Out!
• What’s New in Adobe CS5.5 Upgrade? A Product Feature Overview
• CS5.5 or CS6? New Adobe “Sneak Peek” Preview Videos Out
• Adobe CS6 Upgrade Policy Changes Postponed! CS3 & CS4 on Track

Adobe today has launched Creative Suite 5.5 and we just took a high-level look at how CS5.5 is different from CS5 – and so now here we’ll step through the significant new features at an individual product level, product-by-product…

The upgraded applications and their key new functionalities are detailed below. If you’re coming from further back and would like to know the differences between older versions – like an upgrade from Adobe CS4 to CS5.5, or from CS3 to CS5.5 – the last section will also help.

Major Changes to the Creative Suite Products

• What’s New in Photoshop CS5.1?
• What’s New in InDesign CS5.5?
• What’s New in Dreamweaver CS5.5?
• What’s New in Flash Professional CS5.5?
• What’s New in Flash Catalyst CS5.5?
• What’s New in Flash Builder 4.5?
• What’s New in Premiere Pro CS5.5?
• What’s New in After Effects CS5.5?
• What’s New in Audition CS5.5?
• What’s New in Acrobat X Pro?
• And Illustrator, Fireworks, Contribute CS5?
• What’s New in the CS5.5 Suite Editions?
• Differences from Older Releases (CS3 & CS4)?

What’s New in Photoshop (Extended) CS5.1

Is there a new Photoshop CS5.5? Actually, Photoshop’s revision officially remains at “CS5″ for this release, but under the hood it gets a minor upgrade to CS5.1 (version 12.0.4) and comes with CS 5.5 suites… Adobe has updated its internal scripting engine to open the door for applications and devices like iPad, Android, and other computers to drive and communicate with the desktop version of Photoshop CS5. A new cross-platform Photoshop Touch SDK (Software Development Kit) will enable developers to take advantage of these functions.

This new capability provides a direct link between Photoshop CS5.1 and mobile devices and tablets, allowing the creation of companion apps. Some example apps: creating paintings and sketches (Adobe Eazel) or mixing colors (Adobe Color Lava) and seeing these results back in Photoshop, controlling Photoshop’s tools using the iPad as a new input surface (Adobe Nav), and so on. This expandability lets you work directly with your iPad to boost your in-the-moment creativity and inspire your best work. Read more + watch a demo.

For a bigger upgrade to Photoshop we’ll look to when CS6 is released.

Note that CS5.5 will have no impact on the Camera Raw plugin.

What’s New in InDesign CS5.5

Design more engaging digital publications for consumption on any device. Build engaging publications for tablet devices using Folio Producer tools that can integrate with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite. Create eBooks with embedded audio and video, logical flow, improved typography, and images that resize automatically to fit the viewer’s screen. Reduce the time it takes to create PDF documents that are accessible to people with disabilities. Take advantage of built-in tools for design, preflight, and deliver of documents for print or digital distribution.

New features:

• Folio Producer tools – Create, preview and bundle engaging digital documents for tablets
• Access to the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite – For production, distribution, and analysis
• Enhanced eBook/EPUB authoring – Dynamic image resizing and embedded video & audio
• New Articles panel – Control the sequence of text, images, and graphics when you export
• Linked text – Link identical text blocks within a layout for consistent changes across doc
• Styles mapped to tags – Map styles directly to HTML, EPUB, and PDF tags for standards
• Dragging and dropping of anchored objects – Add objects quickly and intuitively
• PDF accessibility enhancements – Streamline the creation of documents accessible to all
• Open source dictionaries – Use freely accessible open-source dictionaries in your work
• …plus more, or download a free trial

What’s New in Dreamweaver CS5.5

Design, code, and package websites for phones and tablets. Build cutting-edge HTML5 and CSS3 websites with code hinting and Live View rendering. New levels of interactivity are now easier with jQuery hinting support. The Multiscreen Preview panel allows you to design for multiple devices concurrently. Deploy more securely with new FTPS and FTPES support and enhanced Subversion software functionality. You can now package for iOS and Android with PhoneGap functionality integrated directly into Dreamweaver. Enhanced code hinting includes custom function introspection and PHP 5.

New features:

• jQuery Mobile integration – Simple to add a wide range of interactivity to web pages
• PhoneGap integration – Build, convert, and package native apps for Android and iOS
• W3C validation – Ensure the accuracy of your standards-based web designs with W3C
• FTPS and FTPES support – Deploy files more securely with enhanced FTP support
• Improved Multiscreen Preview panel – Design for a range of devices in a single panel
• Enhanced CSS3 and HTML5 support – Code for the future with the latest features
• Cutting-edge Live View rendering – Now with an updated WebKit rendering engine
• Better CSS inspection – Without reading code or needing to use a separate utility
• …plus more, or download a free trial

What’s New in Flash Professional CS5.5

Simplify the creation of immersive experiences that present consistently across desktops, smartphones, tablets, and televisions. Target the latest platforms, including Adobe Flash Player 10.2, Android, Apple iOS, webOS, and Adobe AIR 2.5. Manage multiple FLA files that target various devices, and efficiently create, test, package, and deploy content. Use the improved Code Snippets panel to visually preview and add over 20 new code snippets, including ones optimized for mobile and application development. Help ensure the integrity of your files with a new auto-save and file recovery feature, copy and paste layers, and intelligently scale artwork.

New features:

• Expanded platform & device support – Reach audiences on the latest players & runtimes
• Efficient workflows for mobile dev – Manage multiple FLA files for different devices
• Content scaling when resizing stage – Quickly optimize for different screen sizes
• New code snippets & improved code snippets handling – Speed with the new pick whip
• Seamless mobile testing – Run and test content directly on the device over USB
• Incremental compilation – Use asset caching to reduce compile time and deploy faster
• Pinning support for inverse kinematics – Define more complex kinematics movement
• Enhanced layer controls – Copy and paste layers across multiple files and projects
• Symbol rasterization – Use new options to easily export content as bitmaps
• Work with the latest device profiles – With Adobe Device Central CS5.5 emulation
• Streamlined publishing and document settings – Change settings quickly and efficiently
• Auto-save and file recovery – Protect your work with this new safeguard
• …plus more, or download a free trial

What’s New in Flash Catalyst CS5.5

Rapidly prototype user interfaces for Flex based websites and applications. Collaborate intelligently, and roundtrip projects with developers who use Flash Builder 4.5. Create resizable applications and components, craft more precise and expressive transitions and effects, and efficiently design developer-built custom components. Build wireframes faster with a new Common Library panel, a new Align panel, and numerous user-requested enhance­ments. Publish projects as SWF or Adobe AIR files, and leverage the reach and consistency of the Adobe Flash Platform.

New features:

• Full designer-developer workflow – New bidirectional collaboration with FB 4.5
• Resizable applications and components – Fit various screen sizes or resolutions
• Enhanced timelines and animations – Easily craft expressive transitions and effects
• Common Library panel – Quickly design with native components and placeholder graphics
• Custom skinnable components – Craft the visual appearance of custom components
• Global interaction targeting – Define user interactions more efficiently
• New Align panel – Better align and distribute objects with the new Align panel
• …plus more, or download a free trial

What’s New in Flash Builder 4.5

Take advantage of new support for mobile application development and testing, significant coding productivity improvements, and a new roundtrip workflow. Using Flash Builder 4.5 Premium and Adobe Flex 4.5 (“Hero”), you can leverage a common code base to write appli­cations for Android, Apple iOS, and BlackBerry Tablet OS, while sharing code from your web and desktop applications. Code faster using new code templates, code completion, and code-generation features. Target multiple versions of the Flex framework, leveraging new Premium features to help accelerate the development and maintenance of older versions of Flex.

New features:

• Mobile application development for multiple mobile platforms – Major mobile support
• Preview, debug, and profile mobile applications – One-click using emulator or device
• Package and sign mobile applications – Deploy, package, and sign required resources
• Code templates – Leverage best-practice code templates (snippets) for ActionScript
• Metadata code completion – Suggestions enhance existing content assist functionality
• Code generation – Use Quick Assist/Fix to access a wide range of development aids
• Designer-developer project workflow – New roundtripping with Flash Catalyst CS5.5
• Custom Spark component creation for designer skinning – Rapidly prototype and build
• Customizable Flash Builder – Customize how Flash Builder generates code and keys
• Design View improvements – Accelerate development with enhancements to Design View
• Latest platform support – Benefit from broad new platform support
• Improved performance to support large-application development – In 60% less time
• …plus more, or download a free trial

What’s New in Premiere Pro CS5.5

Edit video faster than ever with Premiere Pro CS5.5′s robust toolset. Experience the benefits of true native format support and breakthrough performance with the Adobe Mercury Playback Engine (see all supported graphics cards), now offering 64-bit support and GPU acceleration on workstations and laptops. Efficiently export to a wide range of devices, work easily with dual-system sound, enjoy enhanced project exchange with Final Cut Pro and Avid software, as well as other Adobe software and gain a highly efficient editing workflow that dramatically boosts your productivity.

New features:

• Flexible, precise, and reliable editing tools – Edit powerfully the way you want
• Even faster Adobe Mercury Playback Engine – Now on laptop and desktop computers
• Speedy, reliable encoding for multiscreen delivery – With Adobe Media Encoder CS5.5
• Roundtrip workflows with Adobe Audition – Audio workflows with new Audition CS5.5
• Direct integration with Adobe Story – Import Adobe Story scripts, including metadata
• Closed-captioning support – Play back and display 608 and 708 closed captions
• Enhanced Canon XF native support – Preview Canon XF footage + use camera metadata
• Streamlined collaboration – Enhancements with Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer
• …plus more, or download a free trial

What’s New in After Effects CS5.5

Smooth unstable camera moves with the new, high-quality Warp Stabilizer, and create beautiful depth-of-field effects with the Camera Lens Blur effect integrated with the camera. Timecode support takes the guesswork out of editing source footage. Quick stereo 3D setup adds to a fast, native 64-bit workflow, while Roto Brush and Imagineer Systems’ mocha (included) streamline compositing projects. Continue to work smoothly with colleagues who have not yet upgraded with the option to save the project in After Effects CS5 format. Add natural falloff to 3D lights. Work with a wide variety of formats, including RED Rocket with RMD metadata, XDCAM EX, and CinemaDNG.

New features:

• Warp Stabilizer – Make your footage look like it was shot on a Steadicam or camera dolly
• Camera Lens Blur – Create soft-focus effects with fantastic depth-of-field control
• Source timecode support – Take the guesswork out of source footage edits
• Stereoscopic 3D workflow improvements – Animate & composite 3D projects more easily
• Light falloff – Control how light intensity falls off across 3D distances, like in real life
• RAW digital cinema workflow improvements – Gain instant access to HD source formats
• Color LUT support – Get consistent color in your workflow by using industry standards
• XDCAM EX export – Lets you roundtrip footage shot on popular Sony cameras
• Save As After Effects CS5 – Work on projects with colleagues still using AE CS5
• More efficient rendering – Benefit from improved disk caching + other performance wins
• …plus more, or download a free trial

What’s New in Audition CS5.5

Bring new efficiency and editing power to your post-production project with Adobe Audition CS5.5, now available for both Mac OS and Windows. A supercharged, new audio engine helps you get more done quickly with background processing, simultaneous multiple sessions, and effects-editing during playback. Native, multichannel file support lets you apply the best editing and effects in the business to your surround projects. New and improved noise reduction and sweetening make it easy to clean up production audio. With the versatility that fast-turn projects require, Adobe Audition gives you complete control over every aspect of your audio.

New features:

• Audition joins the Creative Suite family – New Audition replaces Soundbooth in the suite
• Native Mac OS support – Record, mix, edit, and master with new cross-platform toolset
• High-performance audio engine – Work faster throughout the audio production process
• Roundtrip editing with Premiere Pro – Sweeten audio for video easily with full integration
• Project exchange with third-party NLEs & popular DAWs – Move sessions + share files
• Native 5.1 multichannel support – Edit multichannel and mix your projects in 5.1 surround
• Royalty-free content in Adobe Resource Central panel – Thousands of sound effects
• Native audio effects – Improve performance with native support for audio effects
• Simplified XMP metadata panel – View and edit XMP metadata using a simplified interface
• Auto-saved XML session files – Save your sessions in the robust and flexible XML format
• High quality DSP effects – Improve audio with professional effects
• History panel – Edit, arrange, and mix with confidence, knowing you can easily revert back
• …plus more, or download a free trial

What’s New in Acrobat X Pro

Experience the full power of Adobe Dynamic PDF to deliver next-generation PDF communica­tions. Customize PDF Portfolios with an all-new collection of professionally designed layouts, visual themes, and color palettes. Use the new Action Wizard to automate, standardize, and share multistep tasks. Search and reuse scanned content with greater accuracy through improved optical character recognition (OCR). Seamlessly integrate PDF files into SharePoint workflows. Confidently send large files with easy-to-use services at Acrobat.com.

New features:

• Assemble PDF Portfolios – Quickly assemble content using the new PDF Portfolio Wizard
• Automate tasks with the Action Wizard – Create, manage, and execute frequent steps
• Improve scanning results – Enjoy improved scanning, OCR, and export to Word or Excel
• Integrate with SharePoint – Work seamlessly with PDF files stored in Microsoft SharePoint
• Streamline commenting – Access comments and markup from a single, unified tool pane
• Access frequently used tools – Add your favorites to the Quick Tools area for fast access
• Optimize PDF file viewing – Maximize screen with new Reading Mode heads-up display
• Improved web experience – Open and view online PDF documents faster and easier
• Work with Office 2010 – Create PDF files with a single click from within Microsoft products
• Share files online at Acrobat.com – Now send large files easily and with confidence
• …plus more, or download a free trial

And Illustrator, Fireworks, Contribute CS5

These tools stay at CS5 for this release.  See when CS6 could be available.

What’s New in the CS5.5 Suite Editions

The new suite offerings remain structurally similar to CS5… There are five suites: CS5.5 Design Premium & Standard, CS5.5 Web Premium, CS5.5 Production Premium, and CS5.5 Master Collection. The different suite configurations are the same as before except Audition CS 5.5 merges with and takes over for Soundbooth CS5, and then all the other components enjoy the upgrades detailed above. Flash Builder 4.5 also moves to the Premium version from the Flash Builder 4 Standard which was included in the CS5 suites.

Differences from Older Versions (CS4 or CS3)

What if you’re not currently on CS5, but would like to compare from prior versions of Creative Suite? Like upgrading from CS3 to CS5.5, or from CS4 to CS5.5…

To answer that, check out the differences between Adobe CS3 vs. CS4 vs. CS5 vs. CS5.5 – for the complete picture!

Read more about how CS 5.5 is different in other ways, or on the key launch details…

Or see a replay and transcript of Adobe’s “What’s in CS5.5 for Me?” Q&A session.

Related Posts

• Adobe Releases CS5.5 – Now Shipping plus Download Free Trials
• Adobe CS5.5 is Out!
• Adobe CS5.5 vs. CS5 Comparison – What’s the Difference Between?
• CS5.5 or CS6? New Adobe “Sneak Peek” Preview Videos Out
• Adobe CS6 Upgrade Policy Changes Postponed! CS3 & CS4 on Track

Similar to how they did before the launch of CS5, Adobe has been quietly slipping out a bevy of “sneaks” (now numbering 16 videos) for new features that may be in a forthcoming release of the Creative Suite…

“Check out what new technologies, features and innovations the Adobe product teams are working on behind the scenes. Stay tuned to get an early glimpse of what could be next from Adobe.”

The products covered include: InDesign, Dreamweaver, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition, Adobe Story, Media Encoder, Flex, Flash Pro, Flash Builder and Flash Catalyst.

Given the recent news of a “mid-cycle release to CS5″ (e.g., CS5.5), and a forecast for when CS6 could be out, one question might be in which future version might we see these new capabilities?

Well, Adobe tips their hand once again – because at the end of a couple of these videos they flash the graphic, “CS5 is Evolving: April 11th, 2011″……
Which says to us, you might expect some of these features soon, in fact you might expect more about them next week!

The company has scheduled a special session with Creative Suite Evangelists on Monday, and is tweeting: “CS5 is getting even better. Stay tuned to #Adobe.com on 4/11, and join this Q&A“

Join us on Facebook for a live Q&A with Creative Suite Evangelists Terry White (Design), Greg Rewis (Web), Paul Trani (Flash Platform) and Jason Levine (Digital Video & Audio) from 9am – 10am PDT on Monday, April 11. They will be answering all your Creative Suite questions, so start thinking about what you’ve been dying to ask.

So here are some of the significant new preview demos… For the complete set, please see the Adobe Technology Sneaks 2011 page.

[UPDATE (April 11th) – Right on schedule, Adobe CS5.5 is out!]

Related Posts

• Adobe CS6 Upgrade Policy Changes Postponed! CS3 & CS4 on Track
• Adobe’s New Upgrade Policy for CS6: What It Means for You [Poll]
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• Adobe Releases CS5.5 – Now Shipping plus Download Free Trials
• Adobe CS5.5 is Out!

[UPDATE (Jan. 11th) – Adobe relents, says upgrade discounts to CS6 from CS4 & CS3 are back!]

It’s common for folks to want a sense for when Adobe’s new releases of Creative Suite are coming out. And we’ve covered this topic before for CS5, ahead of its launch date.

But regarding the future now…

On Tuesday much was shared, as we learned Adobe is preparing a “mid-cycle release to CS5,” which will be available later this year is out now (CS5.5).

On the same publicly-available conference call, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen also gave some guidance on the possible roadmap for the company’s CS products going forward… And the news is: the CS5 cycle still has a lot of time and runway left:

Question

And with respect to the CS5 mid-cycle release, is that going to impact the timing of CS6?

Adobe CEO

Well, I think the way you can look at that is the real goals for the mid-cycle release are to continue to enhance the functionality, as I mentioned… [see the features hinted for a likely CS5.5]

And then you can expect another release in 2012.

So right there he’s implying Adobe CS6 would ship sometime next year, a good ways down the road… (presuming CS6 is what they call it)

Of course, Adobe develops this software on a continual basis, so there is always the next version of Creative Suite coming at some point… It’s easy to get paralyzed by that. As with any technology (software or hardware), steady evolution means that anything you buy today will eventually be supplanted with a future release or model. But, we all still have to get our daily work done – and the software saves time (equals money), so arguably there’s good benefit to running the most productive (latest) versions sooner rather than later.

More on timing:

Question

I remember a mid-cycle release between CS2 and CS3. That was a 24-month cycle between 2 and 3, obviously with 2.3 in between. Have there been other meaningful mid-cycle releases since then, or is this going to be the first time since that point?

Adobe CEO

No, I think traditionally we’ve added Acrobat because Acrobat is on a different product cycle than Creative, because Acrobat is also used a lot by the Creative community in terms of updating the releases. But for the most part, I would say that this is really a new strategy and given all of the functionality that we’re putting in with respect to multiple screen as well as Digital Publishing Solution. We also did things like bundled the Macromedia products when we acquired Macromedia, but I would say this is really the first significant mid-cycle release.

So Adobe is clearly indicating this CS5.5 is going to be a bigger upgrade than CS2.3 and CS3.3 were in their time… But the company is also saying their release strategy is actually shifting here, and they are being open about it:

Question

How should we think going forward here with your recent commentary over the past couple of quarters of more incremental updates and releases to Creative Suite? Should we think of 24-month cycles now, with 12-month (call it) interim releases? Is that kind of the cycle we should start thinking about going forward?

Adobe CEO

Yes, I think order-of-magnitude that’s a good way to think of it. We want to continue to deliver value to our customers and keep them on the current releases. And I think we’ve talked about for the amount of fundamental innovation that continues to go in, a 24-month cycle is a good timeframe for us to update most of the customers. But there’s significant value that we can continue to provide on an annual basis, and that really is our goal.

Question

So then just to confirm, you said the next milestone release after the mid-cycle release will be in 2012. Is that correct?

Adobe CEO

That’s correct.

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• When is Adobe CS6 Being Released, including Photoshop CS6?
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• Adobe Photoshop CS6 – Another Look? More Sneak Peeks [VIDEO]
• Adobe CS6 Upgrade Policy Changes Postponed! CS3 & CS4 on Track

Yes, CS5 is out! It looks like a phenomenal release, and we have full coverage – including new products, pricing, configurations, system reqs, videos, “what’s new” feature lists, and more:

• Creative Suite 5 Product Overview  
• CS5 Full Product Configuration Matrix
• CS5 Complete System Requirements
• CS5 Pricing for Commercial and Education
• What’s New in Photoshop CS5  
• What’s New in Dreamweaver CS5  
• What’s New in Illustrator CS5  
• What’s New in InDesign CS5  
• What’s New in Flash Pro CS5  
• All About New Flash Catalyst CS5  
• What’s New in Contribute CS5
• What’s New in Premiere Pro CS5  
• What’s New in After Effects CS5  

ALL CS5 products are immediately available for purchase and instant download, with free shipping on all Adobe orders over €500/£350 in Europe and the U.K. (no coupon or promo code is required)…

On Adobe’s site: If you’re considering upgrading from your current software, here’s a helpful upgrade guide. Also new is an excellent FAQ covering purchasing policies and key product changes… The online documentation for all CS5 products also just went up.

Lastly and importantly, the CS5 free trial downloads and Student and Teacher Editions
(up to 80% off) are also now available!

[UPDATE (May 13th) – Adobe CS5 is now shipping and downloadable in 16 languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Czech, Polish, Russian, and Korean.]

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• Jump in with Free Adobe CS5 Deep Dive Product Sessions
• Adobe Working on New Release of Creative Suite 5 (CS5.3? CS5.5?)
• When is CS5 Coming Out?

[UPDATE (April 30th) – CS5 is now shipping!]

As you may have heard, Creative Suite 5 will be launched on April 12 with a big rollout event that Adobe anticipates over 200,000 people to sign up and attend… So we’ll all learn about what’s coming – but we won’t be able to use or download the software yet – for that we have to wait further. But when will that happen? Well, there’s a lot of mis­information and stray guesses out there about when the shipping date(s) will be, so we thought it might be instructive to take a look at exactly how things happened last time for CS4, eighteen months ago…

So here is our analysis on what CS5′s important dates will be, if the CS4 model is followed – although please note these are our own working estimates and not from Adobe:

Confirming this analysis to some extent comes actual word from Adobe, although not widely disseminated… Buried deep inside a transcript of last week’s first-quarter earnings conference call, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen was quoted as saying in response to an analyst’s question about the availability of CS5:

I know there’s been some confusion about what we mean by “launch” versus what we mean by “ship.” On April 12th, we’ll talk a lot more about the new features and function­alities of the suites, the various product configurations, and what we’ve done with pricing. We have some new products which will factor into the pricing moving forward. And then traditionally, four weeks later or so, you tend to ship the English version followed by the major language versions a few weeks after that. The early feedback has been very positive.

So there you have it – hopefully installing in May. Now the next most commonly-asked question out there is, “if I buy CS4 now, will I get a free upgrade when CS5 ships?” Also known as the Adobe free upgrade “grace period” question… We’ll cover that in a coming article.

[UPDATE (May 6th) – Adobe CS5 French and German versions are now available / Français Maintenant Disponible / Deutsch Jetzt Verfügbar]
[UPDATE (May 10th) – CS5 is now also shipping and downloadable in Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Portuguese.]

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• Adobe Releases CS5.5 – Now Shipping plus Download Free Trials
• Adobe CS5.5 is Out!
• Adobe CS5.5 vs. CS5 Comparison – What’s the Difference Between?
• What’s New in Adobe CS5.5 Upgrade? A Product Feature Overview
• CS5.5 or CS6? New Adobe “Sneak Peek” Preview Videos Out

[UPDATE (April 16th) – We've put together new estimates on likely CS5 shipping timeframes, plus information on Adobe's "free upgrade" grace period for CS4.]

When will Adobe Creative Suite 5 be released? That seems to be a big question of the season… Now that it’s March, let’s take another look. If you search the Adobe site for CS5, you’ll find some good tidbits, particularly about Flash Pro CS5 and Photoshop CS5, but little that’s concrete on timing.

But if you look to coverage of a financial conference the CEO spoke at last week, the Wall Street Journal writes: “CS5 is slated for release in April, though Narayen wouldn’t comment on a release time frame at the conference. Narayen said Adobe will ship its new version of Flash around the same time as CS5, in the first half of this year. ‘Data points and reviews point to a really solid release’ of CS5, he said.”

So it sounds like at this point there is still no official date from the company, but the financial community (whose jobs depend on researching this type of info) is expecting it to be available in the mid-spring. And if it were to come three years after the CS3 release, and eighteen months after CS4, then it would be in the second half of April – so with any luck, not too much longer to wait…

What’s more, Adobe has historically offered a “grace period” of sorts with major product releases, wherein if you buy the current version within a certain window of the new release, you can get the current software now plus a free upgrade to the new version when it comes out. Meaning quite possibly, you could buy a CS4 product and then get CS5 later at no additional cost…

We’ll have more specifics on that program here as the CS5 release date approaches, plus full coverage of launch details, so stay tuned.

Related Posts

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The CS4 collections come in several flavors – two for Web (Standard/Premium), two also for Design (Standard/Premium), Production Premium (which adds audio and video), and Master Collection (which includes every single CS4 app together in one big integrated bundle).

Now, as for exactly which applications are in each of these, the complete descriptions, and how much they cost, happily the answers are right here, all on a single page: www.CS5selector.com

Of note: The larger suite you buy, the more money saved. For example, with the Web Standard edition, you save 37% off the price of each of its products sold separately. But in going all the way up to Master Collection, you save over 60% off the individual components.

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