Adobe CS5

Adobe typically does new releases every 18 to 24 months, but they don't do a lot of pre-release hype, so you can't know when it is coming until a month or two before. There is always a lot of speculation, but you really have to go by what Adobe says and they usually don't say much. They usually start beta testing new versions of some of the pieces of the suite--like they'll throw a beta version of Photoshop out there for people to download and try--signaling they are getting closer and I haven't seen any CS5 apps yet. CS4 was released in September or October, 2008, so if they stick to their normal product cycle you can expect sometime in spring or summer. But it could be a longer release date for CS5--maybe not until sometime in 2011--because CS4 didn't do a full switchover to OS X running on Intel architecture and they are probably doing a lot of rewriting of software from the ground up to make the product better and actually support 64-bit processing.

I don't know what I'd advise. If you need the software, you can end up going months without it because you are waiting for the new suite. Upgrades are much less expensive than the new version, but they still can be costly, especially if you aren't using them to earn money back.

 

One other thing I'd add and it would go into my decision. I never upgrade right away. I give them a few months to work out the major bugs and put out fixes. Since CS5 is likely going to be more of a rewrite from CS4 than CS4 was from CS3, I wouldn't run out and buy the suite the day it hits the market. This is just speculation, but it is educated speculation. For the first time, they will be putting out a product written entirely for Intel Macs (on the Mac side) and they are writing it for a new operating system that runs only on Intel Macs (Snow Leopard). If they get a product out anytime within the next few months, my guess is that the version is going to be particularly buggy on release and it will take a few months to work out some of the issues. That is why I'd buy CS4 and not wait around for a version of CS5 that may or may not be coming soon. At the end of the day, the upgrades are always cool and like new toys, but functionally the things most people are doing with the software don't change a ton. I'd get CS4, learn it and then worry about finding the money for the upgrade if and when the time comes.