TUAW Tip: Adobe CS4 cross-upgrading

First off, I'm a PC user who has been running Adobe for years WITHOUT any issues whatsoever.

Second, why would I pay $600 for the CS4 upgrade then drop $2,000 for a Mac?! Why is that a good idea?! My $600 laptop runs CS3 perfectly fine and can handle anything a Mac can.

Ages ago I cross-upgraded from an old Macromedia StudioMx 2004 for PC to CS3 Web premier for Mac.

I didn't have to send in a letter of destruction or anything, I just purchased the Mac CS3 upgrade and entered the StudioMX serial when registering.

Though the StudioMX software was already cross platform. I also have an old CS2 for PC floating round. I should deactivate the CS3 and test if that works as easy as the StudioMX 2004 path.

You can buy StudioMX 2004 for like $150 or so on eBay if you don't already have it and save $100's on the new Adobe software price.

I thought only the Windows version of CS4 was 64-bit. Why switch to a Mac and be stuck with 32bit Photoshop?

do u need to purchase a new product?Or can u also just switch licenses?

Not really in line with the subject, but how comes there is no upgrade for the edu version of CS4. I have the edu version of CS3 and my only possibility to upgrade is to buy the new edu version of CS4...

...OH I forgot! This is classic! They made me scan all previous packaging back to the original version and send it through. It was about 23 pages in all, lucky I hadn't thrown away Photoshop 4.0...

I did this when my office switched last year. It went through eventually but it took forever and seemed to be pot luck as to whether your letter of software destruction made it's way from the central email or fax pool to the right desk. It saved a lot of money but they sure don't make it easy.

From my experience this has allways been so. I even had old Photoshop 5 licenses upgraded to a full CS2 Suites. It's a tough call to get through to the willingness of Adobe's customer service, but it's worth it.

How nice of Adobe.

Now how about "competitive" upgrades for europeans, instead of charging twice the dollar amount.

You can do this at any time if you have a valid license. You just need to contact Adobe's customer service group at their number. It takes a week or two, but I went through the process with my CS3 license last year when I switched.