Relax: Photoshop CS3 works on Snow Leopard

An Adobe Systems executive is trying to calm Photoshop users who were alarmed to hear an earlier but still widely used version of Photoshop isn't supported on Snow Leopard, the new Apple operating system arriving Friday.

Photoshop Principal Product Manager John Nack on Tuesday published Adobe's FAQ about its Creative Suite support for Snow Leopard, aka Mac OS X 10.6, that said the current CS4 version from October 2008 is the only one that's supported. The comments quickly took on panicky and angry tones among people who thought their older CS3 version of the software wouldn't work on the new operating system, so Nack followed up on Wednesday with a new post to clarify that CS3 would work, albeit with some caveats.

"To the best of our knowledge, PS CS3 works fine on Snow Leopard," Nack said. "We have reason to expect that all meaningful issues of running Photoshop CS3 under Snow Leopard have been resolved. However, because we have not done the level of testing that true certification demands, we need to stand by our statement that we don't officially support CS3 on Snow Leopard."

This is the statement in the FAQ that got people riled up:

Q. Will older versions of Adobe creative software--such as Adobe Creative Suite 3 or Macromedia? Studio 8 Software--support Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v10.6)?

A. Older versions of Adobe creative software were not included in our testing efforts. While older Adobe and Macromedia applications may install and run on Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v10.6), they were designed, tested, and released to the public several years before this new operating system became available. You may therefore experience a variety of installation, stability, and reliability issues for which there is no resolution. Older versions of our creative software will not be updated to support Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v10.6).

Wrote one commenter, "I understand that you don't want to waste resources, but I plan on upgrading to Snow Leopard, but cannot afford a new version of CS. At this point, I will not be out growing this version for some time. PLEASE don't leave thousands of us weekend warriors behind with version after version. True, the new tools are cool for the power users, but average folk just can't keep up on price!!! HELP - please support CS3 for a little while longer!!!"

And another: "The lack of CS3 testing is very disturbing. It was one thing for Adobe not to release CS4 in 64 bit for the Mac. I understand that recompiling the program in a different language is a major undertaking. OK, I can wait for CS5. But now, in what can only be interpreted as an attempt to force an upgrade to a program that doesn't even take advantage of the 64-bit programming in Snow Leopard, Adobe will not even test CS3 for Snow Leopard compatibility."

Nack denied that particular idea.

"This isn't some kind of ploy to force people to upgrade; rather, it's a recognition that resources are not infinite, and we need to focus our efforts on current and future technology," he said.

The upgrade from to Photoshop CS4 costs about $190; various Creative Suite collections that include other Adobe software packages such as Flash Professional, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver cost more.

[Hep Cat]

Why can tiny software companies update their software several times a year, charging only for major upgrades?

What's wrong at Adobe? Too top-heavy?

I remember when Adobe used to patch two versions back to fix bugs and maintain compatibility - like when the PowerPC math engine was given to customers free of charge. Too bad Adobe isn't still the same company.

[gerrrg]

Maybe it's because the different CS3 suites have over 500 MB of coding, each?

[Mr. Dee]

Excuse me, Photoshop's codebase is older than the first George Bush Administration. You can't compare some kid in the basement Delicious software to an industry standard. I think I read John Nacks blog once that the codebase for Photoshop alone is few hundred thousand lines of code. Be a little bit more respectful to the developers of the software. In fact, we should be praising them, Apple has irritated Adobe more than once, when Copland was a failure and scrapped, they still invested in the Mac and produced a native version of Photoshop for OS X. When Apple moved to Intel, Adobe invested the time to make the suite Universal, when Apple pulled the Carbon carpet from under them, Adobe remained committed.

[ikramerica--2008]

Yes, but Adobe drags their heals every time on these things.

It's one thing to say they don't want to support CS or CS2. I get that. But CS3? The least they can do is test it and release one patch pack for it that is the "final" set.

CS3 is 1.5 years old. Is Adobe going to do the same thing with Windows 7? CS3 not supported?

[cdwilliams1]

@ Mr. Dee

Everytime I see an article about updating Adobe CS I am reminded of this comment in some guy's source code for an image viewer that can open photoshop files :-)

http://code.google.com/p/xee/source/browse/trunk/XeePhotoshopLoader.m?spec=svn28&r=11#107

[jlees]

That was before Mega bonuses, you need to keep up with what CEO's are getting paid then you'll realize that all your are is a peon in the corporate bonus race.

[MaggieRed]

Yes but if you read the adobe blog on this, the arrogance from adobe is mind boggling!

First they took shots at Apple only to find way too many people much more versed in Apple's support for two version back operating systems then the lies adobe is spreading.

There is nothing major that warrants and upgrade from CS3 to CS4.

If only Warnock was still running the company.

[ikramerica--2008]

Adobe is an arrogant company, more so than MS and Apple combined, and has been for a long while.

[Lennron]

@ikramerica

You got that right! And have you ever tried to use their customer support? God help you if you ever have to.

[therealgeeves]

I tried their customer support once, when the software would not install, turns out if your drive used a funky character § for instance - no luck. The support guy had the nerve to say - 'it's a known issue in the knowledge base, don't you know' - that was the last time I used adobe support. CS3 is hopefully the last time I use photoshop... frankly, there are alternatives underway and looking to be ps topplers - starting with p, btw - not endorsing anything but hopefull,. - oh, and not supporting a case-sensitive file system (including CS4) that show they have faulty coders on the job. I have to run my CS3 from a disk image - easier than re-formatting my drive... :) gotta laugh, or I'd break down and cry.

[Mr. Dee]

So what about Illustrator CS3, Flash CS3, InDesign CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, Acrobat 8? Adobe is not telling the entire story here.

[therealgeeves]

I think Adobe bet that apple would go bankrupt, so they switched to Windows. Now that decision is coming hope to roost. I switched to mac for good once I was forced to use windows3.1 a while back, and my first photoshop was bundled with a scanner - I have upgraded that version ever since. ha. But, perhaps windows 7 will be a better OS and worth considering, besides I could by 3 pc computers for the price of one mac. But I bet I can't cross upgrade. Adobe have the mac/pc art production world by the short and curlies... Corel anyone?

[shycelticwitch]

Professional artists will not defer to Corel, you can bet your "curlies" on that. We'll just keep up with the technology as we always do, without giving a hoot about pinching pennies. Garbage in, garbage out. Corel is at the bottom of the can.

[Nancy_Nally]

Photoshop Elements users were also begging Nack for clarification on the status of that product and yet any information about Snow Leopard and PSE has still been glaringly lacking from Adobe.

[Bh01]

I recently had a tech support issue with CS3 and was told it would not be answered without a $35. 00 (?) fee attached. I was told they no longer offered free support for "old" versions and I should have upgraded to CS4 long ago. Sorry but my bank account disagrees. I realize software is one of the costs of doing business but in this economy many of us are on a make do basis just to survive and this attitude is not helpful. Nor is is good PR for them to act this way. CS3 isn't THAT old after all, and it still does everything I need. I can understand putting CS3 testing on the back burner but not charging to support a still viable product in use by many customers.

[contentcreator--2008]

Phone support costs real money. Upgrades pay for continuing support. You can't sell something with an open-ended support liability --- it leaves you a substantial chance of taking a loss on any or every sale years later. Not only is it not fair and not make business sense, Adobe would have to keep large reserves against that on its balance sheet. Similar to Apple's small charges for some kinds of updates.

[ikramerica--2008]

I agree that phone support should cost for older versions unless you have a support plan. It used to be free forever, like back in the original MS Word and MS Chart days, in their clear plastic file boxes with printed manuals in beige binders.

[dowell100]

Face it, Adobe is not supporting Macs like it used to. Back in the day, Mac updates were available for all their software products first, now Windows versions are released sometimes months before the Mac versions. Some Mac versions are being orphaned.

Face it, it is a Windows world and Adobe development and support money goes there first. Most of the products go for Windows machines because of the huge market share Windows has. Macs have never had good coverage or support by software vendors (even the hackers don't waste their time writing viruses for it!), so declining support is something Mac owners need to adjust to.

[kelmon]

I don't understand. About 10-years ago I can appreciate that the Macintosh platform would see declining support as Apple tried to set fire to its platform but ever since then things have been on the up. Given this I do not understand why support for the platform would be expected to decline, particularly right now when things are going really well. Heck, the situation seems to be reverse at the moment with Mac versions of current Windows applications being released. Even Adobe seems to be sorting themselves out with products like Lightroom, which is a full 64-bit Cocoa application.

Come CS5 I think we'll see the migration to the OS X platform completed fully. I am currently a CS3 user and suspect that CS5 is something that I will buy - CS4 can go away as it offers very little.

[David_Howe]

I just contacted the Photoshop Elements QA manager to see what the status is with Snow Leopard. I did the same for the other products in the CS3 suite. I'll post what I found out on Twitter (@dhowe).

In a general response to some of the comments here, many members of the Photoshop team who were around back in the early days are still here (I started on Photoshop 4.0). And there's still a good number of us who are indeed macheads...

[artistjoh]

As a Photoshop CS4 user I have to say that I have not liked PS CS4 at any point since upgrading.This is the first PS version I have not liked. They essentially did a hatchet job on 2D editing in order to introduce 3D editing tools. Adobe has its head in the sand if it believes that the low sales of CS4 are purely due to the economic downturn.

So now they are trying to strong-arm people into upgrading.

If Corel would get their act together and develop a Mac version of Paint Shop Pro I would ditch Photoshop very quickly. At least Corel has focussed on the core functions of photo editing instead of trying to do everything and forgetting the customer in the process as Adobe seems to have done.

[antmeeks]

All of you people who are complaining, crying, and cursing Adobe are ignoring one key point. There is no imperative need to, neither is anyone forcing you to, upgrade to Snow Leopard. Period. If continuing to use CS3 / CS2 / CS or even Photoshop 7 is important to you for the next 18 months, then you will have no problem continuing as you were with plain ol' Leopard on you current computer. If your business / hobby is doing well enough to upgrade your machine, or buy an additional one that doesn't come with 10.5 Leopard, then you're doing well enough to fork out the incremental cost for a CS upgrade. End of story. Stop complaining. Dry your eyes. If you can't afford to upgrade, then you're either in the wrong business or you need to be using less expensive, more limited software. There are plenty of options, trust me. Adobe software is a professional-grade suite, for individuals / businesses who are good at what they do and get paid appropriately for it. I'm so sick of the "weekend warriors" and soccer moms who think just because they know how to turn on a Mac, they can suddenly become a desktop publisher, without any proper schooling or training, and feel they are entitled to professional-grade software for hardly nothing. Adobe: Fair is fair, and frankly at the moment, I agree 100% with your strategy. Don't concern yourselves with the small minority of low-end users of your software who always want more for less. If they're complaining about the upgrade cost, you don't need them.

[therealgeeves]

Bring back Photoshop LE then!

[kharris]

"The upgrade from to CS4..." It's called proofreading. Please don't sacrifice literacy in the rush to get us this gripping story.

[therealgeeves]

You made a grammatically correct error in your comment.

[RompStar_420]

Adobe is like this, because Apple has stepped into their market territory, Apple now has it's own Photo Software, Audio, Video, many things, so Adobe is like, ok, we'll support you less, since you have so much of your own software, politics!!!!

[motherdesigner]

Does not work on Leopard.

[exactlyy]

i upgraded to cs4 when it was released , i just didnt like it so i went back to CS2 which i belive is and w'll always be the best adobe photoshop ever

[jlees]

adobe went over the hill with adobe 88

[therealgeeves]

Cool comment. I believe PS7 was and still is the best one, but it will not run on Leopard.

[therealgeeves]

OK - I got snow leopard through the door today. CS3 seems to be fine And - if anything, loads faster and is faster on snow leopard. Thanks apple.

[therealgeeves]

Follow up - when selecting multiple files, dragging on to photoshop icon, only one file opens. A small but major annoyance for CS3. Please update CS3 adobe.

[fixitmac]

I've found some problems with Illustrator CS3 and Snow Leopard. So far, it looks like bleeds is broken. Anyone else notice this?

[amaltemara]

CS3 Photoshop doesn't work with embedded Illustrator objects. I get a repeating error upon opening the document, that prevents me from even shutting down the application properly.

CS3 is definitely broken on Snow Leopard.