Hauy`s blog

March 8, 2006 – Adobe is working hard to release Creative Suite 3 before the end of year, sources have recently disclosed. While internal documents originally pointed to a release date in the first-half of 2007, Adobe is making a big push—and receiving significant help from Apple—to get the software package into customer hands this year. For Mac users, Creative Suite 3′s most notable feature will surely be native support for Apple’s new Intel-based systems.

The new Creative Suite, code-named Banana Split, will pack new versions of Adobe’s flagship applications and will require Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, although sources have suggested Adobe may also be taking advantage of features built-in to the yet unannounced Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

Sources have also lent additional confirmation to Think Secret’s August 2005 report on Photoshop CS3, code-named Red Pill. Specifically, Adobe is still leaning towards releasing two versions of the software, with the Premium edition packing additional functionality geared towards the video and science markets. Both versions will offer Live Filters, providing non-destructive editing, as well as speed enhancements that will take advantage of video card (GPU) acceleration, Camera RAW 4, and Rotating Canvas. Video I/O and rotoscoping tools will remain exclusive to the Premium versions. The new version of Photoshop is also said to feature an InDesign-like interface with similar palettes and an all-new scriptable graphics and programming engine.

Illustrator CS3, code-named Jason (a play on the Friday the 13th movie franchise, as Illustrator CS3 will mark the thirteenth version of the software), will mark a return to Illustrator 8-like performance levels, or so Adobe is hoping. The software will feature video setups like Photoshop currently does, as well as an eraser that mimics the behavior of the equivalent Photoshop tool. A new Live Color palette will function as a color picker on steroids, automatically selecting complement colors and creating an appropriate palette when a user selects just a single color. Sources also report Adobe is spending a significant amount of effort enhancing the software’s integration and compatibility with Flash, which Adobe gained control of after its purchase of Macromedia.

Details surrounding Adobe Acrobat 8, code-named Atlas, and InDesign CS3, code-named Cobalt, are more sparse at this time.

While a 2006 release for Creative Suite 3 is by no means guaranteed, and likely would not arrive until the mid-to-late fourth quarter, it would jibe with Adobe’s intentions of revamping its major applicatons every 12-18 months, which Think Secret reported in 2004. Creative Suite 2, code-named Cookie Dough, was released in April 2005.