If you recently switched to the Mac platform, as many people have, and planned to buy the Upgrade version of CS3, read the fine print. According to Adobe:

Upgrade pricing is available only for products listed above and requires a qualifying previous product on the same platform, with serial number. Upgrades for volume and education licensing are handled separately.

Also, if you read their Upgrade FAQ [link], they say:

Q: Can I upgrade from one platform to another for Macromedia Design and Development products? For example, if I own Dreamweaver for Windows now, can I switch to Dreamweaver for Macintosh when I upgrade?
A. No. You must purchase your upgrade product on the same platform as the eligible product that you now own.

This means that if you had planned to cross-grade your PC version of CS, you won’t be able to.

At least, not at retail and not without calling Adobe at 800-833-6687 and requesting a cross-grade.

The process took over an hour, but at the end of it, I was able to do a cross-grade for the same price as an upgrade (with the exception that Adobe charges tax in Texas, whereas Amazon does not). It takes 3-5 business days to process the cross-grade after faxing in an ominously named document called a “Letter of Software Destruction.”

It is unbelievable to me how difficult cross-grading turned out to be, especially given the number of people who have moved to Mac since the Intel switch. But kudos to Adobe for two things: 1) their customer service wasn’t outsourced to India, and 2) the person whom I spoke to was extremely nice.

Quote source: Adobe Store [link]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 8:54 am and is filed under Off Topic . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.