Free (legal) copy of Photoshop / Creative Suite CS2

Devilsbane

Grab Photoshop and CS2 For Absolutely Free Right Here

The article suggests that adobe is tired of maintaining the activation servers for their 10 year old photoshop, so they are giving away the entire Creative Suite 2.

Webmaster

Nice share! As mentioned in one of the comments on that page, it does most of what the latest PS versions do but is less bloated. The advanced user will certainly miss a few very handy features/tools but if you don't own PS already this sure is a worthy freebie. Should run pretty smooth on modern PCs too.

phoeneous

Nice find! Totally getting this for my work pc. I'm occasionally the company graphic artist and hate using gimp...

the_Grinch

Just read an article today saying it was only meant for people who already owned a copy of CS2. Wouldn't want to be the guy that made the mistake of posting that on Adobe's site lol

lsud00d

If anything I think everyone would benefit from Acrobat Pro...each component can be downloaded separately.

nosoup4u

Adobe denies 'free' CS2 downloads are a giveaway ( - Software - Business Issues )

Devilsbane

I read some of the comments about that. Does it really make a difference though? If they are making their product available to be used with this generic key on the terms that at some point you owned the software, how can they prove that? I'd bet money there are people out there that bought the software 8 years ago, used it legitimately, had a laptop crash, and don't have the receipt or original software. Sounds like Adobe was willing to give them the product again.

I read some reports that the site was down, but I did visit it today and downloaded a couple of the applications. I wonder if they accidentally made this public and then shut it down realizing their mistake, but now opened it back up knowing full well that there isn't any way they can control it. Once you unleash something into the wild there isn't anyway to take it back. So why fight a losing battle and look like a big greedy company in the process.

I haven't installed the software yet, so I don't know what the terms are. I wonder if it even mentions anything about previously owning the software.

MentholMoose

lsud00d wrote: »

If anything I think everyone would benefit from Acrobat Pro...each component can be downloaded separately.

It is a useful program. However, Acrobat and Reader are frequently targeted by malware writers, so using an ancient EOL Acrobat that is no longer being patched for vulnerabilities is not very safe. Disabling the browser plug-in would help reduce the chance of getting hit by an exploit, but it is still risky.

Devilsbane wrote: »

I read some of the comments about that. Does it really make a difference though? If they are making their product available to be used with this generic key on the terms that at some point you owned the software, how can they prove that?

It comes down to ethics. They almost certainly won't go after you for using this, but the same goes for pirating the latest version. If you are going to use software you are not entitled to, you might as well just use the latest version.

lsud00d

MentholMoose wrote: »

It is a useful program. However, Acrobat and Reader are frequently targeted by malware writers, so using an ancient EOL Acrobat that is no longer being patched for vulnerabilities is not very safe. Disabling the browser plug-in would help reduce the chance of getting hit by an exploit, but it is still risky.

I hear what you're saying, but what version of Acrobat *is* safe? Adobe has and will be a target forever...by your logic no one should be using it

Roguetadhg

Oh Heaven. Yesturday news of the ASUS Rog 2 card... and now free CS2.

Yes. Dear. Heavens.

MentholMoose

lsud00d wrote: »

I hear what you're saying, but what version of Acrobat *is* safe? Adobe has and will be a target forever...by your logic no one should be using it

Right, Acrobat and Reader aren't very safe to use in general. But if you are going to use it, a fully patched version is best since only 0days will affect it. The latest Acrobat 8 update is 8.3.1 which is over a year old, from September 2011, so there are probably dozens of vulnerabilities that have been patched in newer versions but not in Acrobat 8.

Acrobat Help | Release Notes | Acrobat, Reader

To reduce the risk, install the 8.3.1 patch, disable the browser plug-in, don't open random PDFs from spam or other particularly risky sources, don't run it with administrator privileges, keep your AV and OS fully updated, and install it in a VM or sandbox.

The browser plug-in would be my main concern due to drive-by exploits. Even if you only ever visit safe sites, there is no guarantee they (or their ad network) won't be hacked.