Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 18, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Adobe Systems has released a beta version of Adobe Photoshop CS3. It is available as a Universal Binary version for Macintosh and for Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista, respectively, and can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe’s Labs website.
In addition to new and enhanced functions, the Photoshop CS3 Beta also offers access to the next version of Adobe Bridge and the new “Adobe Device Central” service. Photoshop users of can use this service to develop content specifically for mobile devices with smaller displays, preview it and test it. Through the included device profiles and the preview options, the integrated tool is intended to simplify and accelerate the creation of designs.
“In these exciting times for the Mac community, Adobe wants to make the transition to the nine Intel-based systems easier with a pre-release version of Photoshop CS3,” says John Loiacono, Senior Vice President of the Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe: “Of course, we also want to include Windows users, which is why this beta is available to all members of the Photoshop Community, regardless of which operating system they work on.” They also have “further surprises” in the works, Loiacono explains.
To use the Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta, users need a valid serial number for Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe Creative Suite 2, Adobe Creative Suite Production Studio, Adobe Design Bundle, Adobe Web Bundle or Adobe Video Bundle. The pre-release version is available exclusively in English, but can be downloaded by users of all available language versions of the named Adobe products. Users without a valid serial number have access to the Photoshop CS3 Beta for a two-day test. To download it, interested parties must register with Adobe or log in with their existing Adobe ID.
The system requirements for the Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta for Macintosh are: Mac OS X 10.4.8 to 10.5, a 1 GHz PowerPC G4 or G5 processor, or Intel-based Macintosh systems. Under Windows the prerequisites are: Intel Xeon, Xeon Dual, Centrino or Pentium 4, Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher, or Microsoft Windows Vista. Both platforms require 512 MBytes of RAM and a resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels. The Photoshop CS3 Beta will run until the release of the final version in spring 2007. Adobe is not yet providing information on final prices, system requirements and availability.
Further Links:
- Adobe Labs
