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Adobe CS6 Launched on April 23rd, but When Is the Release Date?

[NEWS (May 7th)CS6 has been released!]

As you may have heard, Creative Suite 6 was announced on April 23rd with a big launch event that’s being webcast world­wide…  So we’ve learned about what’s new and different, but we can’t use or download the software yet – for that we have to wait further until the actual release date. When will that be?

What's New in Adobe Creative Suite 6?

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen has previously said this regarding availability:

“I know there’s been some confusion about what we mean by ‘launch’ versus what we mean by ‘ship.’ On the launch date, 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, within 30 days, you tend to ship the software products themselves. The early feedback has been very positive.”

The time window now also means you can preorder the software, but you might not want to actually do that. Why? Because you could save a good bit of money by ordering CS5.5 from Adobe’s site instead (at lower cost), in which case you will be eligible for an automatic free upgrade to CS6 when it comes out…

So for the release date itself, we have long forecasted early May, which is confirmed by the May 6th expiration date of the CS6 grace period offer just described. It is also confirmed by word on the Adobe Boards.

Customers who preorder the CS6 titles now receive the following notice:

Preorder Estimated Availability May 7, 2012. Your credit card will not be charged until the product is ready to download. Estimated availability date is subject to change.

Adobe advised earlier they will be moving to a simultaneous release in the major geogra­phies, which in addition to the U.S., tend to be Europe (U.K., Germany and France) and Japan. So expect to see the English, German, French, and Japanese language editions all ship at the same time, with others to follow later – 23 languages in total.

We also anticipate the CS6 free trials, the Creative Cloud, and the new Student & Teacher Editions to also be available on that same date.

[UPDATE (April 30th) – Adobe confirms in today’s “Ask a Pro” presentation: “All pre-order customers will have access on May 7th in the US (date may vary by country).”]

So there you have it – hopefully installing by second week of May! In the meantime you can download the Photoshop CS6 beta release now, or enter to win Photoshop CS6 for free

[UPDATE (May 7th) – All Adobe CS6 downloads are now available!]

For more information and details on Creative Suite 6 worldwide pricing, upgrade changes, availability, and system requirements, see our companion CS6 Launch Guide. Or read more about how CS6 is different from previous versions like CS5.5, including a detailed product-by-product breakout of what’s new in every application.

Do you have any questions about CS6? Just ask them below and we’ll get you answers fast!

Keep up with the latest on Adobe software — follow us on Facebook or Twitter, or subscribe to our RSS feed… You can also enter your email and have new articles sent directly to your Inbox. We are reader-supported; when you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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12 thoughts on “Adobe CS6 Launched on April 23rd, but When Is the Release Date?”

  1. I installed CS6 beta and cannot install add-on programs or plugins to the beta. Is this normal, or is there a problem with my install? I installed it on a new Dell 620 running Win7 64-bit. I have 8GB Ram with a 1TB HD.

    Reply
    • Hey there Randy, thank you for your question and interest. The only free upgrades to CS6 are for those who purchased CS5.5 during the recent grace period

      We do expect that Adobe will refresh the Acrobat X Suite soon with the recent releases of Photoshop CS6 and Captivate 5.5, but it would be a paid upgrade from what you have.

  2. Why aren’t you offering the free upgrade to CS6 for those who bought CS5.5 before the March 26, 2012 date? In a way, aren’t you penalizing those loyal users who decided to purchase CS5.5 when it first came out?

    Reply
    • Hello Rich, thank you for your thoughts. No, because the folks who bought CS5.5 when it first came out got to use it for a year before CS6 arrived, whereas buyers in April very quickly had the old version… Also if Adobe offers free upgrades to all purchasers of a previous product then they would never be able to finance actually creating new releases or features – the company’s income has to come from somewhere.

      One thing we’ve learned after being an Adobe Partner for 5+ years is that it’s never possible to manage dates on special offers so that everyone is perfectly happy… No matter what period the company chooses, by definition there will always be someone just before or just after. So pleasing everyone all the time is unfortunately not possible – but if you’d like to share your feedback or experience with them directly, here’s their Customer Contact page.

      Going forward feel free to stay tuned here (see the “Subscribe” box at the upper right), as we always try to give early word and estimates on upcoming major releases, and have been posting on CS6 timeframes since last summer. Forecasting these timeframes from public information we pick up helps many of our readers with managing their purchases and upgrades.

  3. Does the new CS6 release have the same features that were included in the ‘Beta release’? I am particularly interested in the 3D that was included. Thank you.

    Reply
  4. @ ProDesignTools
    I agree with Rich, we ARE being penalized. When I bought CS5.5 it was because it stated on the site that CS6 would NOT be available for a few years and CS5.5 was a major upgrade. This was FALSE advertising. I have been been using the suite since it was Macromedia, long before Adobe did the buy out. I purchase it for home use and SEVERAL copies for the 2 places I have worked over the last 12+ years. NOT happy about the FALSE information that swayed me into purchased CS5.5 early. If it had been stated CS6 would be out within a year, I definitely would have waited! Shame on Adobe!

    Reply
  5. @ Rich
    I agree with you! TOTALLY wrong. They stated there would not be an upgrade for YEARS, which is why I upgraded to CS5.5, I call that false advertising!

    Reply
    • Hello Gail, thank you for sharing your thoughts. However we’re pretty sure that at no place and at no time did Adobe ever state or advertise that CS6 wouldn’t be available for years… In fact, on this very blog last summer we posted that CS6 would be out in the spring of 2012, which it was.

      But if nevertheless you feel you were compelled to upgrade to CS5.5 for reasons beyond your control, there are options you can explore.

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