[Updated x2] Have an Older Computer? Download Adobe CS2 Premium Plus for Free

[Updated x2] Have an Older Computer? Download Adobe CS2 Premium Plus for Free

Update 2: This update goes here because circumstances have changed. If you missed the hype, Arstechnica.com has a great explanation of what happened. The download link still works for a select few, so feel free to try, but don't be surprised if it doesn't work any more. Read on for the original post and a short explanation...

In short, Adobe wanted to help those who still had valid, purchased CS2 licenses be able to still activate new installations (if they, say, changed computers or hard drives) after they had retired the CS2 activation server. For some reason, they chose to provide free access to these customers (and everyone, subsequently) to a new, downloadable version with serial numbers that would not require activation, but that would at least unlock the software -- all you needed to do was create or use your existing Adobe ID. After realizing their mistake, they briefly made another, removing the requirement to enter an Adobe ID altogether, before finally shutting down the links and redirecting those who visited them to the current CS6 site. As stated, Arstechnica has a more thorough explanation if you want to know more...

Original post:

In an interesting move, Adobe has made the 2005 CS2 Premium Plus suite available as a free download for Windows and Mac platforms. While the software will have issues with some newer computers and though the software is dated, it's all here on Adobe's site, serial numbers and all. What do you guys make of this?

You do need an Adobe account to download the files, but it's completely free to create one...

Via 9to5Toys.com

[UPDATE] There is a lot of hype surrounding the free version of Adobe CS2. Many claimed it was false, etc etc. What's the story? Some people are reporting that the reason all this was happening is that Adobe is terminating the activation servers for CS2 and that for existing licensed users of CS2 who need to reinstall their software, copies of CS2 that don’t require activation but do require valid serial numbers were available.

But the downloads are free, and they still exist. There are serial numbers you can use, but there is a catch -- System requirements:

Mac OS X v.10.2.8–v.10.3.8. PowerPC® G4 or G5 processor
Microsoft® Windows® 2000/Windows XP. Intel® Pentium® III or 4 processor

You should also be able to use Apple computers with newer Intel processors, but you have to have OSX v. 10.6.x or earlier (that's Snow Leopard or earlier...no Lion/Mountain Lion).

You might run into issues if you're using newer software/hardware. You can get to a whole slough of downloads and serial numbers for CS2 at Adobe.com.

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Adam works mostly across California on all things photography and art. He can be found at the best local coffee shops, at home scanning film in for hours, or out and about shooting his next assignment. Want to talk about gear? Want to work on a project together? Have an idea for Fstoppers? Get in touch! And, check out FilmObjektiv.org film rentals!

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Well, this would explain why the site is gone since a few hours ...
 

this is why BLOGGING is no journalism... to many false informations.

everyone is just copying from the other.. without checking the truth....:(

It was accurate...it worked for a while... Sorry that Adobe changed its mind, everyone...

They didn't change their mind. They were never offering it for free, it was a screw-up.

Well that I will agree with. An especially rampant issue when it comes to political blogs.

boy it was not ACCURATE...

adobe NEVER wrote it was FREE.. that is what some websites wrote without checking back with adobe.

if you leave your door open and someone tells bypassers: "hey take what you can carry.. it´s free" does that make it ACCURATE??

downloading at this moment - PS and Acrobat already, audition happening now

I have it but It is asking for disc 2...i do not have disc 2, but it downloaded disc 2 to my hard drive...not sure how to install it.

copy the contents of C:Creative SuiteAdobe Creative Suite 2.0 to C:Creative Suite CS2Adobe Creative Suite 2.0 and then try to run the setup. files were copied to the wrong folder.

According to Wikipedia, Adobe CS2 is now worldwide free to use legally.

I just installed the Photoshop CS2 (downloaded from the Adobe download centre). It works fine with the attached serial number.

Where is the truth? Is this legal or not?

Any way of someone posting the serial number on here for us to use? I downloaded last night but didn't install... Try to install today and need the serial number... Please...

so are these allegations true or not?

You can still download and install using the serial keys in a Core i5 Win8 computer - but I told it not to update or register, and it doesn't open NEF files from the D7000.... or my D50.

I'll probably stick with PS Elements instead.

You have to have an existing license...it's not free to new users. The following info is posted on multiple websites, including Forbes, CNET, etc:  " There has been clarification since this story broke. Adobe has not released the CS2 software for free. Instead, it has cancelled its CS2 license management servers, so for those with existing licenses it is now offering downloads that do not require contact with the licensing servers. This service is only going to be available for those with existing Adobe CS2 licenses, which will be verified when creating the Adobe account to download the software."

Downloaded CS2 in South Africa - works fine using serial No given. I tried it a week ago & had "not available" messages but now it worked.

10/03/13 it still works just downloads cs2 for mac

You guys reposted a 7-month old article about software that wasn't available shortly after the article was originally written. Other than completely wasting our time, is there a point to this?

I've had CS2 for a long time, and it works perfectly for me. I'm a hobbyist photographer and use RAW files. CS2 does fine RAW conversions, and everything else I need.

For reasons I won't go into here, I've always needed to contact Adobe to move it to another computer. Last time I did that was a LONG time ago. But I've gotten a newish Toshiba laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium, and wanted to get my Photoshop working. (I finally got tired of GIMP.) Instead of doing the usual routine, Adobe directed me to the webpage mentioned above. And after a few glitches with the installation, it's now running fine under Windows 7, and running much faster than it was on my old computer.

I think Adobe writes high-quality software (following all of Microsoft's rules), and for that reason (on Windows at least) it should continue to work for a good long time.

Hooray for Adobe!