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“When Is Adobe CS6 Being Released, including Photoshop CS6?”
When Will Adobe Creative Suite 6 be Out, including Photoshop CS6?
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“So, this is something people really want to know now. And we have definitely written about it before, giving clues in posts here as early as March 2011 and July 2011…”
I think you may mean 2012.
Hi Amorphous, actually those dates are right – they were for the first two stories we did on the subject of when CS6 is coming out… And now here in this article we’re updating the picture with all the latest information we have.
But the text wasn’t entirely clear on that point, so we’ve just clarified it. Thanks for your comment!
This is a very helpful piece. I had the same questions.
Thank you.
Curious to know if Adobe plans on Photoshop CS6 only being compatible with Windows Vista/7 or later, as they have done with Lightroom 4?
That’s a great question George – but Adobe hasn’t said one way or the other yet, the CS6 System Requirements aren’t available or published yet…
But there are definitely are other customers like you wondering the same thing – whether Photoshop CS6 will run on Windows XP – and when an Adobe Lightroom team member was asked this exact question on a public forum, her response was, “I can’t speak for Photoshop … this was a Lightroom-specific decision.”
Is this a marketing strategy for Adobe, or should I really wait. For a moderate professional, does a half step really make a difference? I would be cool if the CS5 did the same thing as 5.5? Thanks.
Well James, you can easily judge for yourself how big a difference it makes for each upgrade step in the products… Basically it depends on which product and what features you’re interested in, as for how much the newer versions can help you.
See:
Version Comparison – Differences between CS5.5 vs. CS5 vs. CS4 vs. CS3
And:
Adobe CS5.5 – What’s New and Upgraded for Each Major Program
For those who might upgrade to CS5.5 before a CS6 release, what does history tell us about how close to the CS6 release it would need to be to get the CS6 upgrade for free?
Excellent question Chuck. In our experience, Adobe has offered grace periods going back 3-4 weeks from the date of a new product launch… That’s what happened with CS5.5, where buyers of CS5.0 could get a free upgrade within that window. Similar story with the grace period for buyers of CS4 when CS5 was announced.
Adobe does always have what’s called a “Post-Announce Upgrade Policy” that’s generally in place, which gives the procedure for customers to follow but doesn’t specify for which products or for how long.
So we hope something similar happens with a free upgrade to CS6 for buyers of CS5 or CS5.5 within a similar timeframe – but there won’t be any news on that until CS6 actually comes out… We’ll have that for you here if/when that does happen.
But it may not even matter. Why? Because of the company’s longstanding Return & Exchange Policy, whereby buyers going forward can effectively create their own grace period for a free upgrade, should a newer version (CS6) be released within 30 days of purchase (of CS5). And this will work regardless of what happens!
Hope this gives you a good and helpful answer.
It’s interesting and I am waiting for the new release soon probably in May. However I was wondering if the CS5.5 student edition is purchased now, does it qualify for free upgrade in May when CS6 releases? If not how much will it cost to upgrade?
I assume the original price for CS6 will be the same as CS5.5 correct?
Hey there Moe, we don’t know the pricing for Creative Suite 6 as Adobe has not announced it yet, and they probably won’t until the launch. However, it hasn’t changed much over recent years so your best estimates would be to take the prices now for full copies of CS5/CS5.5 – or if you’re upgrading, then use the cost of a similar move now.
Similar answer for the CS6 Student Editions – nobody can tell you yet what Adobe’s offerings will be in that regard… There is simply no information at this time on either availability or prices. (Please note there are some important differences currently between the student editions vs. regular.)
As for what will be in CS6, which new features – that’s unknown as well, although Adobe has released some ‘sneak peek’ videos, both in the past month as well as at the MAX show last year.
Finally, on getting a free upgrade to CS6 if you buy CS5 now – in the past Adobe has offered such grace periods where that was possible, and we hope they will again. Again, we won’t know for sure until CS6 arrives.
But even if they don’t officially offer one, here’s a handy tip: you can just create your own instead… You automatically get a window for a free upgrade with Adobe’s everyday Return & Exchange Policy – so if a new version comes out within 30 days of your purchase, you can just return what you got for a refund and then buy the new release instead.
Sorry we can’t provide firmer answers, but hope still helps a little!
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I have seen a couple of things in the FAQ’s upgrade policies, and in this press release
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/faq/upgrade-policy.html
that is saying that CS3’s & CS4’s would need to upgrade by December 31, 2012.
… so hopefully they don’t release it on Dec 30 -_-‘
Thanks for this article, it is really helpful.
You’re welcome Laura! And good point as the policy is slated to change on 12/31/2012 – however we believe Creative Suite 6 will definitely be out by summer at the latest, so not to worry.
So they are going to release yearly updates to the Creative Suite lines as in 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, etc. Are they going to start making upgrades more affordable, and will they continue the upgrade eligibility to 3 versions back? Does the “3 versions back” include or exclude the x.5 versions? There have been too many changes and flipping and I am confused.
If I buy cs5.5 on the 50% off special, will I have to upgrade at version 7 or 8.5 to keep my upgrade eligibility? I am wondering how they are going to handle the upgrade pricing in the future. I am agonizing between getting just Photoshop at $300 (private special offer as an upgrade from another program) or the Web Premium Suite at $900. I am leery of future upgrade prices for an entire suite, and thinking of buying individual products as I need them, controlling and spacing out my own upgrades as I see fit, as I don’t need everything in the suite, however it will cost me less up front to get the suite.
I don’t have much time to decide. Help?! ;)
Hello Gina, thanks for your questions. We can’t say for sure what Adobe’s future upgrade policies will be. They have announced that for 2012, it will remain “3 versions back” for Creative Suite – and those are major versions, so all CS3, CS4, and CS5.x versions will be eligible to upgrade to CS6.
Starting in 2013, this will likely switch to a 1-version back policy. Again, we’re talking major versions – so CS5 owners can upgrade to CS6 at a reduced price, CS6 owners to CS7 in the future, etc.
But to be able to buy CS5.5 right now for half the regular price is a steal though – regardless of what happens… Even if you want CS6, you could pay a lower total cost by getting CS5.5 now for 50% off, and then later doing the discounted upgrade to CS6. The total price will almost certainly come out less.
And you’d have two years before you’d have to think about upgrading again from CS6, just before CS7 comes out (see the estimated release schedule).
Hope this helps!
CS6 is out now! Go to Adobe Labs.
Thanks Michael… This is the free Photoshop CS6 beta release. The full and final Creative Suite 6 with all applications remains on track…
I have CS5.5 that will not install on Mac OS 10.7.3 with the error: “will not install on case sensitive drives.”
Will this be fixed in CS6, and how will the upgrade work for a computer that does not have CS installed on it previously?
thanks,
marc
Hi Marc, those are good questions. In the official system requirements for the Photoshop CS6 beta release, it says:
“cannot install on a Mac OS volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on removable flash storage devices”
However, this does not appear to be entirely Adobe’s fault, as the company indicates the limitation is also connected to Apple’s Developer Tools and they are trying to work around it.
On your second question, you don’t have to have a previous release installed for the new upgrade version to run on a different computer – if no older software is found then you just need to enter its serial number manually.
Hope this helps!
Yes, thank you for the comment and information. So the answer is really to reformat the drive?
thanks,
marc
That would be one solution Marc. Other people have tried to work around it in other ways, with varying degrees of success… Hopefully Adobe and Apple will finally be able to work it out and get past the issue.
Thanks, since the computer is relatively new, I backed it up and am reformatting the HD. Thanks again for your help.
I would think that the release has to be on or around May 6, right? The CS6 free upgrade deal is for anyone who purchases CS5.5 before May 6, implying that it will be out then. It even says in their terms:
“Ten days after the ship of Adobe Creative Suite 6 and no later than May 31, 2012, at 11:59pm (PDT), customers will receive an email with instructions and a unique promotional code to receive the one-time upgrade to the equivalent CS6 product.”
So it’s May for sure. Missed the 50%-off deal, but the free upgrade to CS6 makes up for it, I guess.
Thanks for your observation Alex, and you’re absolutely right. We noted the same thing in our coverage of that CS6 Free Upgrade Grace Period offer…
But you can still get a discount, because the company says that buying or upgrading to CS5.5 now could be less expensive than going to CS6 later…
Plus right now Adobe has got a 10% off coupon when you purchase CS5.5 – with the free upgrade included in May! So you can save money in two ways.
Yes, you are right. Didn’t see that article. That’s what happens when you get here through a Google search and not the home page! But, hey, at least now I found this great blog! I’m definitely going to follow it from now on. Thanks!
Yes, I took advantage of the deal already. Had ‘only’ Photoshop CS5, but was still able to get a discounted upgrade price from that to a full CS5.5 suite + 10% off + free CS6 upgrade. Definitely great!
Wow – nice job Alex, well done! Thank you for the kind words and glad to help… Thanks for following and hope you enjoy both CS5.5 and CS6!