Speaking as a long time user of Adobe software (Photoshop since version 3.0) this is the most bloated and unstable iteration ever. The added goodies in Photoshop CS would be great, if my (quite adequate) Dell Workstation didn't freeze up every other minute.

Most annoying of all is a screen redraw problem most visible in GoLive CS; a problem that makes GoLive essentially unusable. If you plan to use GoLive - most especially if you have an NVidia graphics card - visit Adobe.com and look through the GoLive User Forum BEFORE you buy the CS version. LOTS of good reading there.

Adobe has (reluctantly) admitted the screen redraw problem to be a "bug" that they are "working" on... but jeez! Wouldn't that bug have been far better stomped on BEFORE Adobe CS was released onto loyal, trusting Adobe users??

To sum it up - BUYER BEWARE! Check out the Adobe Forums before you shell out your hard earned for Adobe CS, because that's where you'll get the real truth about real-world use. Download the trial version of CS if you can - maybe it will run for you... but if not, no money lost.

For now, I'm thinking it's back to my previous versions so I can at least get some work done. In fact, it's so bad - I'm beginning to consider getting a MAC! Aaaargh!!!!

As for improvements, the best component to be included in this suite is called Version Cue, and is nothing short of a a basic version of an asset management/check-in/check-out component which allows multiple users of the same assets to not step on each other's toes by blocking write access to an asset currently being used by another user. Something that's been around for ages in the software arena, but to which the design world is becoming used to lately.

In terms of specific apps, Photoshop CS (forget the numbers from this point on, think "CS") comes back with an improved File Browser, with very nice features such as the ability for users to add keywords to the files, PhotoMerge (which will allow you to seamlessly put together two or more pictures that were shot "side by side" as in a landscape picture of a city, for instance), and a number of great features that will make the application friendlier to photographers. Among the photographers' goodies comes embedded support for the Camera Raw file format (previously only available through a paid plug-in) and MatchColor to allow you to apply the color of one image to another. Those that scan multiple prints at once are up for a great surprise: the Cop and Straighten feature which does just that... as unbelievable as it sounds, it crops all the scanned pictures and rotate them so as to make them perfectly straight, eliminating the guesswork and the rework from this tedious process.

Illustrator CS for the most part underwent an important "behind the scenes" overhaul, making it a faster app than before. But also, there's a new and highly appreciated 3D Effects feature that borrowed its strengths from Adobe Dimension, allowing you (among other things) to extrude and bevel an object to project otherwise flat or one-dimensional objects in 3 dimensions: Illustrators will just LOVE this!

InDesign CS is perhaps the application that benefited most from the upgrade, bringing a load of useful and highly expected features. I'd like to stress ONE feature, though, that blew me away... two words: NESTED STYLES. If you have suffered through the painful process of laying out a document where more than two styles are required in a particular content block, you will shed tears of joy when you see this at work! You are bound to also find very handy the enhanced table features such as automated running headers and footers for tables that run across multiple linked text frames. Printers (people in the printing industry) are also going to be happy (or so Adobe wants) with the features that have been included in InDesign CS for them.

As for GoLive CS, I've not been much of a user of this application, I admit, so I won't comment on it as much, but what I've read about it is that the upgrade for it was mostly focused on enhancing the interface.

Finally, bundled with the Creative Suite comes the previously released Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional. This product deserves a lengthy and detailed review, one which I will write for it shortly.

All in all, I am VERY happy with the new Creative Suite and I highly encourage anyone in the design industry to take the plunge into it. It will be very much worth your time and it will pay off for itself in no time with the increased productivity!

"its useless for art fine its graphic formula RIDDLE", dont waste your hard earned money ADOBE IS MOSTLY SOFTWARE FOR LOOSERS burdened to their guillotines OF COMMERCE, ADOBE SOFTWARE is so CONFUSING,non intuitive WORKING WITH IT IS like tearing your teeth out one by one using pliars,

"The complete design environment for print & Web publishing.", The Adobe Creative Suite brings together full, new versions of Adobe's latest print and Web publishing tools in a comprehensive design environment. In addition to the new features of each component product noted below, the Creative Suite offers integrated file-management and workflow benefits designed to let you focus on your creativity.

With the Adobe® Creative Suite, you can create beautiful, detailed artwork for your clients and projects. Editing images, creating photo compositions, and drawing vector graphics has never been a more fluid and flexible process than in the integrated design environment of the Adobe Creative Suite.

Import your native vector and bitmap artwork directly into InDesign CS software for sophisticated print layouts or into Adobe GoLive® CS software for powerful Web pages. And thanks to support for such technologies as Adobe PDF and XML, you can easily output your pages to both print and the Web.

With the Adobe Creative Suite, you can deliver your final files efficiently and confidently. Built-in support for the Adobe PDF standard across the entire suite means you can streamline review cycles, prepare final files of the highest quality, and prevent costly production mishaps.