I've waited long enough! Now the new iMacs have finally surfaced I'm going to plump for one, mainly for CS3 (design premium) work and photography.

I assume CS3 will run ok, currently using it on an ancient non-intel Mac under Snow Leopard?

Then I've been considering an upgrade to PS5 (can't justify the full CS5 suite upgrade), but found, as many of you no doubt have, if you buy the suite you can't upgrade any components like PS individually, so that's off the cards, despite a couple of features I'd love in PS5.

So now I'm looking at Lightroom, as I'd really like native RAW support for my Canon 5D mk II, at the moment I'm converting to DNGs then still using ACR built into CS3.

Any thoughts from you all?

Snow leopard won't run on non intel. I have cs4 on my g5, but use cs3 indesign as indesign on cs4 runs a bit slowly. Cs3 just about runs on a g4 okay. Cs3 does everything I need to be honest, I only got cs4 as it was a free upgrade at the time.

Thanks Tom, I'll pension the Old G4 off, so obviously won't be upgrading Tiger from that.

I've been running CS2 and then 3 on this 1.25 MDD Mac for many years, it's stacked with RAM and HDDs, but really is starting to show it's age now when manipulating 50MB RAW files!

Main thing I wanted to check is that CS3 will run under Snow Leopard and the new Intel Macs as per my OP.

I'm running CS3 under Snow Leopard. No problems beyond the usual Adobe quirks.

Sorry, missed the first para, must have accidentally scrolled down as I'm on tapatalk!

What a remarkable co-incidence:

I run both InDesign CS2 (Client specified) and CS3 on my 1993 G4MDD 1.25, and have just installed InDesign CS4 today (as a trial to start with) for a new client project.

CS2 can be a bit flaky, CS3 no probs at all (provided frequent save as's), but the venerable G4's superdrive seems to have bitten the dust today (5 coasters in a row) and InDesign CS4 isn't even supposed to run on a G4 anyway (but does if installed in Safe Mode) & it really is time I stumped up for a new shiny to earn my living on... But I'd more or less decided on a 15" MBP + 23" monitor (didn't know new iMacs were out - will restart choice dithering henceforth - groan).

I was in the process of framing a very similar query to yours ie Can I run CS2, CS3 and CS4 on my soon to be purchased new Mac in OS10.6.whatever simultaneously? or is there any advantage in partitioning drive/running separate external in 10.5 for the older stuff? would also want to occasionally run Windows in Parallels ideally (bally Word still doesn't display properly on Mac... grrrr) so thoughts 'bout best route most welcome...

Adobe were exceptionally dumb and unhelpful in response to my queries, but no surprise there eh...

Hi all,

Thanks Heather, perfect - just what I needed! Thanks Tom too

Robin, I've been toying with a MBP as an upgrade too (especially when they were updated recently), but I prefer to work at a desk for my main work, so although it's handy to take about, I think the price/performance of the iMacs is a winner. However, I really wanted to stick with a tower and separate monitor but the ridiculous prices of the Mac Pros compared with top end PCs just make it non-viable (I also need a PC for other work, £999 can get me a seriously fast Windows tower), but now the iMacs finally have been updated (a couple of days ago I think), they offer a decent performance/price point and up-to-date technology. In fact the entry level one is £999, opposed to the older one which is a few pounds more, and less powerful. (PS if you are looking at the MBP, I'd seriously look at some of the 24" top end Dell monitors, they are absolutely superb, there are some good comparative reviews on PCPro.)

I've kept the G4 MDD for about 10 years, I've stuffed it with RAM and fast Spinpoint HDDs, USB 2 cards, fast SCSI, and also I've installed a Pioneer dual layer DVD writer, these are only about £30-£40 today and it's very easy to install. It's still a superb machine, and a testament to quality, it's never failed, and I put together huge high-res albums using InDesign and work on large photographic projects in Photoshop. But with an upgrade to a 21MP DSLR the files are now so huge, it's taking longer to churn through the files. I will still keep it for slide scans using a SCSI box though!

I have two concerns with iMacs though, firstly the glossy display is an irritation and I wish they'd offer a matte option; and secondly if a component fails, the whole unit needs sorting out. I'd also be tempted to partition the internal iMac drive (I'll go for a 1TB model), to have two versions of the OS, and for some duplication and separation (as well as proper backups of course .

I feel Adobe are yet again ripping us off, now allowing a upgrade to a specific component of CS3, is madness I spend a fortune on that suite, and I'll be unlikely to upgrade it in full, it's just too costly. I might try a trial of PS5 when I need the features, are all the trials fully working, or save disabled? If I schedule it right, might be able to complete a project using a trial this month!

Isofar,

I too am seriously impressed with the longevity and stability of my G4MDD - I currently produce several magazines requiring both illustrations and photo retouching (nothing like your stuff tho') as well as a fair bit of packaging artwork. So I need Ai as well as ID, Acrobat and Ps, thus the Design suite is a must. I was lucky enough to find an original (and legal) CS2 + CS3 upgrade set on eBay last year for £450 and just bought a shrink wrapped update to CS4 last Thursday for £550. I need all the ID versions because of Client specs and the Adobe policy of backsaving only one version but had read about problems installing and running CS4 on a G4 (can be done - best installed in Safe Mode to avoid Safari 4 clash with the naff Adobe installer) so figured I'd install CS4 ID only in trial mode ( YES - FULLY functional for 30 days from start of trial ) to open a file from my new client and backsave to CS3 before installing the full CS4 suite on the yet to be bought new Mac.

Methinks I'll be getting an iMac now instead of a MBP - it was the relatively poor spec of the older iMacs that had decided me against them. Now I'm leaning towards a 21.5" model + a low end 2nd monitor for palettes/Finder windows/email/cross referencing etc etc etc. I'd much prefer a tower for the same reasons as you, with DropBox or whatever I have no real need for a portable but it would be a very nice (if expensive) solution.

Suggest you do a thorough Google about CS4 or CS5 Ps on a G4 there's a lot from photographic forums about the various problems/solutions out there. Good luck mate..