According to Amazon,

April 6, 2002 2:36 PM

According to Amazon, Photoshop 7 is shipping on April 20. The list price is $149 (same as direct from Adobe), and they've got a $20 mail-in rebate on Photoshop (and a bunch of other programs) until April 25. Plus, you can get free shipping if you select Super Saver Shipping. Can't wait...I just need this and Flash MX and I'll be all OS X, all the time.
posted by kirkaracha (34 comments total)

FYI, whats new in ps7...

Actually very little to make me want to upgrade, altho the "healing brush" and "pattern maker" sound kind of nifty.
posted by malphigian at 2:41 PM on April 6, 2002

I would love to buy Photoshop 7, but it is, of course, ridiculously expensive. Adobe, how about holding prices down and moving more product? Let the young college students in the world shell out $150 or so for a full version of your product (not an upgrade). Maybe some of us will see it as an investment, not an impossibility, and go from simply stealing your products to purchasing them.
posted by Hammerikaner at 2:52 PM on April 6, 2002

malphigian: "Actually very little to make me want to upgrade"

I'll probably never use the new features, but I really want to get shut of Classic.

Hammerikaner: don't you get a student discount? I got the copy of Photoshop I'm upgrading at the campus bookstore when I worked at Stanford, and I seem to remember it being fairly cheap.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:59 PM on April 6, 2002

With student discount 7.0 costs $299.95
posted by riffola at 3:07 PM on April 6, 2002

I just bought Adobe GoLive 6 (full version) from J and R computer world in New York for 89.00 (normally 400 bucks) by showing my student ID. Adobe releases 'educational' versions of their software (so do several other companies) that are fully functional versions. The only difference is the price. I don't know if this discount applies via mail/internet order from J and R, nor do I know if other software stores sell these educational versions of the software, but you should look into it. I'm buying Microsoft Office X for 180 bucks this weekend, instead of the regular 500 bucks. Students of the world, unite!
posted by evanizer at 3:11 PM on April 6, 2002

I think I paid $300 a few years back for 5.0 with my student discount. It was the last time I spent money on software. I'm a bad bad pirate.

My 2 cents about the current price is-

A.) They either are trying to make up for piracy by charging high prices... I would assume that most businesses still purchase thier software.

Or B.) Thier development costs must be giant. They don't have as large of a user base as something like winblows, but, they still have to shell out some serious cash to make the program.

I'll just be happy when I never have to see classic again.
posted by password at 3:33 PM on April 6, 2002

Evan, if you pick up 7.0 at a price less than $300 in tri-state area, please let me know.
posted by riffola at 3:40 PM on April 6, 2002

What's everyone using for mail on X? Not "Mail," certainly...?
posted by scarabic at 3:43 PM on April 6, 2002

think of it this way: adobe's biggest market is businesses. all these web-design and other design-related companies need legitimate copies of the software, and typically multi-user licenses. this is where adobe makes it's money.

the only reason people are able to pirate photoshop so easy is because adobe WANTS you to. if you have a stolen copy on your home PC, you're going to be familiar with it when you get to work. that means they keep their reign as the image-tool folks, and you get free stuff to tool around with when you're not at work.

companies that want to make it very very difficult to pirate their software have done so. it's not difficult to make something un-pirateable, especially for something like photoshop, where adobe could use hardware-based authorization (dongles and the like). there would still be a bunch of people stealing it, but they'd be "keeping the honest, honest" as my dad would say.

but even then, the 16 year old kids aren't going to shell out $300 to buy a copy, so the only person adobe's hurting by doing that, is themselves.
posted by christian at 3:47 PM on April 6, 2002

I'm sticking with paintshop pro meself....
posted by bunnyfire at 4:02 PM on April 6, 2002

the academic version is available here for C$399 (about us$250).

i got photoshop 3.0 LE (lite edition) with a scanner i bought years ago. then, when 4.0 came out, i bought the upgrade at regular upgrade price.

not sure if Adobe still allows this, but if they do, and someone is interested, i have a LE of version 5.0 (unregistered of course) that i'd sell for us$50 (meaning with the upgrade you'd get 7.0 for $200). i got it with my Canon G2. if anyone's interested (check with adobe on current upgrade policy), just let me know.
posted by dobbs at 4:14 PM on April 6, 2002

riffola: will do. I don't know how much it will be at J & R. The good thing about them as opposed to Gradware is that you don't need 18 pieces of school documentation, plus a signed letter from Plato attesting that you are a member of the academy. You just flash your student ID. Very Simple. The only problem is the 8 3/4% tax.

scarabic: 'Mail' on OSX is a great program, I love it. Worlds better than Outlook. What makes you think anyone would avoid it?
posted by evanizer at 4:15 PM on April 6, 2002

Hammerikaner: Most poor college students would just download the latest version from their local friendly Hotline server.
posted by mkelley at 4:25 PM on April 6, 2002

hammerikaner: an of course, those self same college students break into the local garage and steal Snap-On tools to work on their car. Come on, if you need professional tools, pony up. If you don't need professional tools there are plenty of free (ala the GIMP) and shareware alternatives.
posted by shagoth at 4:42 PM on April 6, 2002

kirkaracha: I got the copy of Photoshop I'm upgrading at the campus bookstore

Just a quick warning. I've bought academic versions of a few software packages (including Adobe) and none of them have let me upgrade. Upgrade packages usually have a sticker somewhere that says "Upgrade not valid for academic version".

Hopefully you're luck will be better than mine, but you might want to check the upgrade licencing first - or make sure the store let's you return software if it won't install. I'd hate for you to get stuck with a $149 upgrade that doesn't.
posted by Monk at 5:11 PM on April 6, 2002

I bought several of Adobe's packages back in college at academic rates, and then after I graduated, they sent me an email saying, "Remember! You can't use those academic packages for business use!" It was creepy -- like there was some trenchcoated guy from Adobe standing in the back at graduation, counting down the seconds until I had to buy the big package.

FWIW, though, I had friends who bought upgrade editions that worked with the academic packages, but Adobe's letter also said something about upgraded academic packages not being legally viable for business use. Be warned.
posted by dreamsbay at 6:04 PM on April 6, 2002

shagoth: using the gimp is nice and all, but when you need to apply for a job and they need a graphics designer, they're not asking for GIMP experience.
posted by mkelley at 7:07 PM on April 6, 2002

ooh. I've got an LE 5.0 too. Are we setting up classifieds or something? :)

NIB Photoshop 5.0 LE LQQK!
posted by ODiV at 7:45 PM on April 6, 2002

Wow... I was joking, but I can sell this on eBay for ~50USD! Thanks dobbs.
posted by ODiV at 7:51 PM on April 6, 2002

How would Adobe know if one used their academic software for other than 'academic' uses? Does the academic version lace the files you produce with some sort of academic trojan horse? Does this surveillance come only when you register the product?
posted by evanizer at 8:47 PM on April 6, 2002

for about $400 you can get an academic bundle. I prefer the design bundle which includes InDesign Illustrator Acrobat and Photoshop. There are others so you can pick your flavor, all are on adobe's website and if you can't find the academic price fast enough just look here: http://www.bookstore.washington.edu/ubs/main.taf?area=computers&page=comp&catagory=comp_main&nav=on&sn=5#academicsoftware

or here: http://www.bookstore.washington.edu/ubs/pdf/acad_sftwr3_01_02.pdf
or here: www.bookstore.washington.edu

seems like they're working to make color consistent across applications and indesign is already way better than quark 4 (with indesign version 2) in both workflow and its capabilities. photoshop is great as is the imageready software for making quick comps of web ideas. illustrator too. You can't really beat the value of the bundles as far as i know.
posted by greyscale at 8:49 PM on April 6, 2002

scarabic: what's your beef with Mail.app?

Sure it could use more robust filtering and Applescript support, but it's evolved into a hella-mighty fine little program since the beta days.

I have Entourage X and I've tried the rest. I keep coming back to Mail.app. It's Cocoa-good and darn fast.
posted by russh at 9:43 PM on April 6, 2002

What's everyone using for mail on X? Not "Mail," certainly...?

The only thing I don't like about Mail is the search. It's not robust enough for the way I organize my mail. Otherwise, it beats the pants off of Eudora (imo) and for some reason Entourage never grew on me enough to switch for good.
posted by jragon at 10:28 PM on April 6, 2002

Mail actually handles some things very well... It'll do until I decide whetehr to switch to Entorage X.

As for Photoshop, I've been using a beta of 7 for the past three weeks and it's great to be all OS X, all the time. I haven't used the new features much if at all, but then I haven't been doing photo retouching recently. All in all it's a really good job.

So, $149 for an upgrade? What's the real problem? If you're not a professional, then you're using Photoshop because you *like* to use photoshop, not because you *have* to use photoshop, and if you are a professional, or a dedicated hobbiest, then $150 isn't too much to pay every few years to keep up. Personally, I upgrade every second time or so, using 5.5 at home at 6.0 at work. with 7 I'll upgrade at home.

I've been using Photoshop since 2.5.1, and paying for the upgrades is a point of pride with me, since it's one of the few pieces of commercial software I use and depend on, and is worth every penny, even if it means I actually have to plan and save for it.

Photoshop gives me that much pleasure. Am I alone?
posted by kfury at 12:35 AM on April 7, 2002

It's a shame Adobe don't do upgrade bundles - having originally bought the web collection and then had to separately fork out a fortune recently for Go Live and LiveMotion upgrades. It's obvious they make way more cash by not doing that though...

In the UK, Amazon have the Photoshop 7 upgrade for £124.99 compared with £135.13 from the Adobe store. Release date 18 April apparently.
posted by kerplunk at 3:09 AM on April 7, 2002

Otherwise, it beats the pants off of Eudora

Hmm, could you elaborate? I'm contemplating whether to upgrade Eudora (my last everyday piece of Classic), but I haven't done the homework to compare it to Mail.app. What's better about Mail?
posted by rodii at 9:53 AM on April 7, 2002

Check out mailsmith for OSX -- from the people who bring you BBEdit. Their main page is here.

It only supports POP, which sucks, but can be worked around. But I find it to be very fast and flexible. You can query your email db with regexes and it uses BBEdit as it's email editor. Very very cool -- there is also a free 15 day trial.
posted by n9 at 12:35 PM on April 7, 2002

Hmm, could you elaborate? I'm contemplating whether to upgrade Eudora (my last everyday piece of Classic), but I haven't done the homework to compare it to Mail.app.

Both Eudora and Mail have their benefits, but I look for a clean, fast, and beautiful mail program, and on each of these fronts, Eudora just doesn't do it for me.
posted by jragon at 2:20 PM on April 7, 2002

Academic versions don't upgrade? I dunno, I bought PS 4.0 when I was in school and the 6.0 upgrade cd worked for it just fine. Maybe this is new?
posted by Hackworth at 3:28 PM on April 7, 2002

I just upgraded to Illustrator 10 from an academic version. I'm not worried about Photoshop.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:52 PM on April 7, 2002

ok, just a quickie:

triple post! :P

re: upgrading - indeed worth it to get rid of classic if you're using os x, if you do a lot of work with large image files (improved performance and mem usage there), or if you cant afford illustrator and would like to add some basic vector shape and painting tools to your arsenal

re: adobe golive - paying $ so you can generate terrible html is silly, email me if you would like to discuss this one further...

re: academic upgrades - this is generally verboten, sometimes in the past it has 'worked' because of lax installer security, but for auditing purposes you need to check very carefully that your copy is legal

re: mail clients for os x - mail.app is very nice, but lacking in some key areas, by all means give it a chance, its quite unix-like despite its gui, and i personally enjoyed its mailbox format, imap support and gnupg integration

entourage is the obvious choice if you need to manage your schedule and contacts, its the only app i need to manage my freelance web development, and for that i'm thankful - i *hate* the database it uses for mailbox storage however (at least the repair tools are good)
also the way microsoft opens up tcp/ip ports on your machine to check for serial number abuse is terrible, because it leaves you vulnerable to attack, and can prevent legitimate use

re: flash mx (on os x in particular) - its POOP!
the interface is improving (and the new version of actionscript is nice) but they really need to hold back the relase date on this product in future until they actually find all the annoying bugs - i'm still doing most of my actionscript in bbedit

eudora is coming along nicely, its very fast and supports nearly everything you need for internet mail - but its a shame its taking so long to get out of beta... also the interface is pretty ugly and weird, unless you are a long time user
posted by sawks at 3:27 AM on April 8, 2002

oops, swap those last 2 paras (told you it was a quickie)
posted by sawks at 3:29 AM on April 8, 2002

everyone who is concerned about using an academic version and then upgrading and using it commercially: if you read the license, or just call adobe, they'll explain that when you buy an upgrade the terms of the license become commercial, so you don't need to worry about it. And the only distinction software-wise between the academic versions and pro is that the academic versions have a serial number with an E in it which the software recognizes as "Educational" automatically. When you upgrade you don't change serial numbers, but you have a new license nonetheless. Call adobe if you really find this to be a point of hesitation.
posted by greyscale at 8:42 PM on April 8, 2002

When I upgraded to Illustrator 10, I got a new serial number, because Adobe changed their serial numbering scheme. (I assume they'll do this with Photoshop 7 too, since the earlier versions of both programs use similar numbering schemes, but that's just a guess.)

I don't think Adobe particularly cares too much about how you get the software. They want you to get the $150-every-two-years upgrade monkey on your back.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:49 AM on April 9, 2002