Adobe has just launched Acrobat X (Acrobat 10) and the first thing everybody wants to know is what’s been added or improved in the new version… Fortunately we’ve been following the Acrobat 10 story for a long time, so we have the answers for you…

Adobe went back to fundamentals with Acrobat X and reimplemented much of the interface and functionality to make them better, faster, and smoother. They used their extensive Product Improvement Program with a dataset of hundreds of thousands of users to make things really work like you think they should and want them to, saving you time and helping you complete your work quickly and effectively.

Here are Adobe’s overriding goals and themes for this release:

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[UPDATE (April 11th) – Adobe CS5.5 is out!  See also when CS6 is penciled.]

Last week Adobe held a private briefing for partners under non-disclosure agreement, where they gave “an overview of the upcoming Creative Suite release”… While we can’t speak to what transpired within the presentation, the invitation itself is publicly available.

Given that the next release of Adobe Acrobat is due out within a matter of weeks (see why and when, or get a chance to win a free upgrade to Acrobat 10 Pro), and given the two year age of Acrobat 9, it’s likely Adobe would be refreshing CS5 with the addition of the new Acrobat X. When Acrobat moved from version 7 to version 8, Adobe subsequently updated the Creative Suite and issued CS2.3 – and then once again when Acrobat revisioned from 8 to 9, Adobe incorporated the new version into CS3.3 in 2008. Acrobat 9 is still what we have today in CS5 – but since it’s obviously way too early for CS6, it seems a safe bet we’ll be seeing a point release (CS 5.3?) that would incorporate the new Acrobat 10.

But from reading the briefing invitation, it looks like there will be more in store for this next release than “just” integrating the new version Acrobat X Pro. It says, “… an overview of the upcoming CS release with a focus on InDesign and ePublishing…” Adobe has been hard at work on a new Digital Publishing Platform (you may have seen or read about the tablet editions of WIRED or The New Yorker magazines) that ties in with InDesign, and is (over)due to be made available on Adobe Labs. It seems logical that this would also be part of a CS5 point release, as it is a major deal for magazine and print publishers to deliver their content to the iPad, iPhone, Android, and other mobile devices, and has been quite successful thus far… But since the publishing tools haven’t yet been released in beta form on the Labs, it could be a while longer before the final version of this new technology is ready for the world at large.

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[UPDATE – Also see our new Photoshop CS6 Giveaway!]

With the official launch of Adobe Acrobat 10 (or Acrobat X) looking to be coming soon here!, it’s time to also launch our fall contest… And by popular request, this one is open to everyone in all countries of the world. This time we’re giving away a free upgrade to the new Acrobat X Pro (worth US$200-$300), and all you need to do for a chance to win the box sent to you is the following steps:

1. Follow us on Twitter and/or Like us on Facebook – this will allow us to contact you if you win…
2. Retweet this post by clicking on the green “retweet” button just above, and/or Share this post on Facebook by clicking the blue “Share” button next to that.
3. Done.

It’s open worldwide until 11:59pm EDT on November 15, 2010, at which time we expect Acrobat X will be out (or close to being out)… The winner will be drawn at random from all fans and followers who have shared or retweeted this post (each reader can enter once on each). If you’re the winner, we’ll ship you the shiny new shrinkwrapped upgrade to Acrobat X Pro (from versions 7, 8, or 9; English) for free! We’ll contact you via Twitter or Facebook just to get your address for shipping, and then announce it back here with your first name and hometown. That’s all there is to it!

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[UPDATE (October 18th) — Right on time, Adobe Acrobat X is out! Download a free trial.]

We first wrote about the next version of Acrobat three months ago, when the current Acrobat 9 celebrated its second birthday. At the time, we highlighted the window for the likely availa­bility of Acrobat 10. Last week on a financial conference call, Adobe’s CEO confirmed it is on target for that window when he said, “We are on track to deliver a new version of Acrobat late this quarter.” Adobe’s current fiscal quarter ends in late November, so we continue to expect the launch date anywhere from mid-October to the end of November.

The Prerelease Program for Adobe Reader and Acrobat Pro recently opened as well, which is free and open to the public. So one interesting question remaining is, what will the new product be called, and with which configurations and features? We had previously speculated it might be called “Acrobat X” because of the Roman numeral aspect of 10. Now we may have confirmation of that as well…

A new book entitled, “How to Do Everything with Adobe Acrobat X,” was just made available for pre-order at the Amazon websites in the U.K., USA and Canada. This is a continuation of the popular McGraw-Hill series by Doug Sahlin, who has written the same comprehensive book for many earlier versions of Acrobat (9, 8, 7, 6, and 5). So this lends further credence that the “Adobe Acrobat X” name is real.

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One of the most common upgrade questions you’re likely to see is what’s new, what’s different, what’s improved, what’s changed between the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and version 8? Or more fundamentally, what are the key new features in PSE 9, versus PSE 8, 7, or even version 6? We put together a short list here and a longer list (with details) at our product page here, but how about a feature-by-feature, version-by-version table? You’ll find this down below, but first let’s take a look at some of the biggest new additions.

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[UPDATE (9/20/2011) — Photoshop Elements 10 has been released!]

Yes – Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Premiere Elements 9 are just out and now shipping! Pretty much on the timeframe we forecast, you can instantly download the free trials today – with both products available on both Windows and Mac with the same features… And the new software will work side-by-side with any previous release(s) of Elements you own. If you have an earlier version installed, you can automatically import and convert your work.*

And right off the bat, some big news: “The Content Aware Fill technology introduced with Photoshop CS5 is one of our most exciting innovations ever, so we’re thrilled to be able to make it accessible to photo and video enthusiasts in this latest Elements release…”

The prices remain US$99 for the full version of either PSE 9 or PRE 9, and $149 for the bundle package containing both. To add Adobe’s Plus Benefits runs $30 more. Students and teach­ers can grab the full education versions for $69 each (31% off), or $119 for both – with free shipping (the Back-to-School Special) until October 31st. The product languages available today include English, French, Dutch, German, Japanese, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, and more.

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We’ve been following the story closely on the upcoming next version of Adobe Acrobat (which could be called Acrobat 10, or possibly Acrobat X), including timing on possible release dates. A few weeks ago we wrote about the new Adobe Reader and Acrobat Prerelease Program that is open for public participation. This morning we received our invitation to join:

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Adobe Lightroom 3.2 and Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 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, new camera and lens profile support, and new features for Lightroom:

 » Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.2 for Mac (a free update to Lightroom 3.0)
 » Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.2 for Windows

 » Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 for Mac (a free update to Photoshop CS5)
 » Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 for Windows

While it may seem Adobe skipped a version with no Lightroom 3.1, this was done just to align the point release number with Camera Raw (ACR 6.2), which shares the camera-related features. Since the initial “Release Candidate” for LR 3.2 was posted earlier this month, Adobe has fixed more bugs (including an issue with the new Facebook-publish feature), supported more cameras, plus added direct publishing to SmugMug.

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Two months ago we studied the likely release dates for Adobe Acrobat 10 and concluded, “it looks like Acrobat 10 (or Acrobat X) will be shipping sometime between mid-October and late-November this year.”

At a financial conference presentation last week, Adobe’s Chief Financial Officer Mark Garrett was quoted as saying, “Acrobat 10 ships later this year, the next cycle in the Acrobat product family – which will continue to drive Acrobat growth and penetration going forward.”

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[UPDATE (August 31st) – The final release of Lightroom 3.2 is now out, a free update for all Lightroom 3 owners, and free 30-day trial for everyone else. For now, the initial Lightroom 3.2 'Release Candidate' described below also remains available for free use for all, if desired.]

Adobe has just made available for free download its Release Candidate for the first update to Lightroom 3, which will be called Lightroom 3.2… This new release has dozens of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one new feature – and thus far looks like a winner and a welcomed update by the Lightroom community. But you don’t even need to own any version of Lightroom to get or use it.

The download is in the form of a ZIP file for both Windows and Mac and is not just an update nor a trial – but a full version that will work until it expires for all users. These Release Candidates are more like betas in that Adobe is looking to see how a poten­tial new version performs in the field (and welcomes your input, feedback, and bug reports on it) – but Lightroom 3.2 shouldn’t be confused with Lightroom 3 beta 2 (which was the last available beta version of Lightroom 3.0 before its final release). And although Release Candidates are fully-working free versions that don’t require serial numbers, typically they have an expiration date to stop functioning within two calendar months of issue – meaning Lightroom 3.2 RC will probably expire by October 31, 2010.

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