Believe it or not I still use CS2, as I haven't seen the need to upgrade. Now I want to purchase the Topaz bundle, but find it is not supported by CS2, support starts at CS3. Questions? I still use windows XP professional and wonder if CS3 will work with this OS. Has there been issues with this CS3 upgrade? Is it just as stable as CS2? Any info or advice would be most helpful.
Posted by Keith Bauer on August 18, 2012 at 4:09 PM
Good luck finding an upgrade to CS3. The current version is CS6. Doubt there are any upgrade issues since that was several years ago. If you can find it, you shouldn't have any issues.
Posted by David Bostedo on August 18, 2012 at 4:23 PM
Agreed with Keith.... hard to give advice on such old software and compatibility, but I wouldn't imagine you'd have any issue. Keep in mind though, that if you stay on CS3, odds are updates to any plug-ins may not be compatible in the future, so you're continue to run into the same thing.
I can think of a great reason to try to get to a newer version of CS though (like CS5 or CS6 if you can swing it - or Lightroom 2 or Lightroom 3)... and that's if you shoot RAW and use ACR.
ACR has changed tremendously in both features and capability since CS2. It's something like a million times better (OK - I might be exaggerating a bit). But it is much, much, much better and more flexible and more powerful.
In fact, a cheaper option for you to get a better RAW flow might be to get Lightroom and continue to use CS2 for now.
Posted by John Mumaw on August 18, 2012 at 5:07 PM
To solely answer your questions, CS3 will work with WinXP, I had no issues upgrading with that configuration and it should be as stable as CS2. I reckon you've already found the upgrade somewhere as that is not an easy one to find anymore.
Posted by Buck Ward on August 18, 2012 at 10:57 PM
While you're at it, add more RAM to your computer, if it will accept more; 32 bit XP will only accept a max of 4GB, though.
After you install CS3, go into Preferences and set PS to use 70% of RAM. This will give the best performance. Also, if you have a second hard drive on the machine, set PS to use it as your scratch disk.
My Head hurts. David you have just given me something else to think about.
"Keep in mind though, that if you stay on CS3, odds are updates to any plug-ins may not be compatible in the future, so you're continue to run into the same thing. " Think I'll go take an aspirin and go to bed. Tomorrow I'll do more research. Thanks for your input.
Discussion
6 repliesI can think of a great reason to try to get to a newer version of CS though (like CS5 or CS6 if you can swing it - or Lightroom 2 or Lightroom 3)... and that's if you shoot RAW and use ACR.
ACR has changed tremendously in both features and capability since CS2. It's something like a million times better (OK - I might be exaggerating a bit). But it is much, much, much better and more flexible and more powerful.
In fact, a cheaper option for you to get a better RAW flow might be to get Lightroom and continue to use CS2 for now.
While you're at it, add more RAM to your computer, if it will accept more; 32 bit XP will only accept a max of 4GB, though.
After you install CS3, go into Preferences and set PS to use 70% of RAM. This will give the best performance. Also, if you have a second hard drive on the machine, set PS to use it as your scratch disk.
I hope this works out for you.
--P
"Keep in mind though, that if you stay on CS3, odds are updates to any plug-ins may not be compatible in the future, so you're continue to run into the same thing. " Think I'll go take an aspirin and go to bed. Tomorrow I'll do more research. Thanks for your input.