Some say Adobe made a mistake, others say it's a gateway drug to the new versions.  Either way, if you want to get your hands on some free Adobe software click here.  It includes CS2, Acrobat Pro 8 and a few others.

As do that, you may aswell just torrent the new stuff.

I agree, just posted that in case someone was morally against it :)

They say that these versions have most of the useful features but are a lot less bloated.  So it might be worth getting them.

I've had a jimmed version of CS2 for years and it's always served me well for everything I've wanted to do, but I've downloaded Premier 'cos I've never had a play with that.

I currently seem to have a jimmed CS5 version but I'd definitely get hold of CS2 since it's legal and definitely would do everything I want from CS2.

Its not legal, though, that's my point.

The CS2 copy isn't legal? I'm confused.

It was a mistake on Adobe's part. It seemed that they were giving away CS2 for free (which would have been an uncharacteristically smart business move on Adobe's part). But this turned out not to be the case and what they're actually doing is turning off the authentication servers for CS2 and below and making CS2 available for download to those who have a CS2 serial or whatever. Something like that.

Ahh, makes more sense. I thought it was them being smart to generate interest and potential future sales, nevermind.

Aye, I was pleasantly surprised when I heard about it. Surprisingly smart move, like. But yeah, stupid Adobe.

Gimp's not too bad these days :((

I use Photoshop 6 even though I have CS4.

I use PS7 even though I have CS5.5.

Opens faster, does the same shit.

I think I managed to actually resize an image in Gimp the other day. It was a proud day.

I eventually got round to telling it not to spread over my 2 screens when it started which made it much easier to use. One toolbar on the left of one screen and another on the right of the other screen isn't useful in the slightest, especially when one screen is 1024x768 and the other 1920x1080.

Adobe's never really said that I can see.  And if it was a mistake on their part why would they keep it open for 3 days now?

Plus, as you can see on that page, the serial numbers are right there beside the products.  I'd consider this much more legal than Jimming a copy.

They've gone all bloatware. I wish there was a way to disable some unneeded features (even better, not pay for).

The latest one has single window mode which instantly makes it like one billion times more usable. It's a lot more responsive and light feeling than later Photoshops. But yeah, the UI is idiosyncratic (though so is Photoshop's, I'm just more used to it).

 

Thanks!

So they just figured they'd release those on the honor system and everything would be fine?

So basically, what they're saying is... "We've turned off the activation servers so if you legally own CS2 here's a new version of CS2 you'll need to download along with a special serial number to let it install. The download and serial are freely available from our website and you won't have to prove your purchase to us to reinstall. We /really/ hope that /only/ people who have paid will download it."

Seems to me they're making it free but possibly can't say it for some legal reason of some sort.