How to install Adobe CS2 free suite of products

Recently I stumbled upon Adobe's free download of CS2 suite of products and shared on social media. That suite includes:

• Photoshop
• Acrobat
• InDesign
• InCopy
• Premiere Pro
• Illustrator
• GoLive
• Audition
• After Effects

Friends on Facebook, followers on Twitter, Tumblr, Wordpress, people in my circles on Google+... all contributed their feedback. Nobody flat out hated my update. However, while most liked, favorited, rebloged, retweeted and reshared on their most valued social media channels, some people remained sceptical about the freebie. I'm not sure why. Was it a "too good to be true" syndrome, fear of the unknown, solid attempt to find and focus on that one Nnnnnegative aspect of the whole thing? I'm not too sure. 

The most common feedback revolved around alleged fine print somewhere online that claimed necessity of purchasing a license for that free download from Adobe. I saw blog posts about that in upper 1000's of words where authors copied & pasted (allegedly) Adobe's short announcement. Authors would continue rambling about all possible legal ends of things, and after several lengthy paragraphs without definite conclusions, they would end their spiel stating that an install of the software wasn't even attempted.

I, on the other hand, attempted to install free Adobe CS2 software - not on one, not on 2 but on 4 unique operating systems: Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Mac OS X Mavericks. 

No purchase was necessary as promised by Adobe, and as expected. 

3 success stories. 4th installation ended with a prompt about lack of support for PowerPC applications on my latest version of Mac OS X (I believe you'd need a version prior to 10.7 for this free Adobe CS2 installation to work).

I'm using Adobe Creative Suite CS2 as my guinea pig. If you wanted to start enjoying Adobe CS2 package on your machine (or you wanted to verify my installation routine), follow there steps:

1. Prepare installation files
1. Download from https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=cs2_downloads
2. On Windows, extract CreativeSuiteCS2Disc1.exe,
   CreativeSuiteCS2Disc2.exe and CreativeSuiteCS2Disc3.exe
   into the same destination directory by double-clicking each of them and following prompts
1. For Windows XP and Windows 7. used C:\CS2\Creative Suite CS2\, but you can extract that stuff anywhere
2. On my Windows 8 machine I actually installed that software straight from a shared location on my home network
3. The extraction process should create a folder named "Adobe Creative Suite 2.0"
3. On Mac, open CS_20_IE_NonRet_D1.dmg.bin, CS_20_IE_NonRet_D2.dmg.bin
    and CS_20_IE_NonRet_D3.dmg.bin to expand them 

   

   Mac OS X Mavericks. Adobe CS2 installation
   Expand .bin files

4. Start the installation process:
1. On Windows, double-click setup.exe from "Adobe Creative Suite 2.0" directory
2. On Mac open CS_20_IE_NonRet_D1.dmg, CS_20_IE_NonRet_D2.dmg and CS_20_IE_NonRet_D3.dmg. Then, double-click Adobe Installer icon in Adobe Creative Suite Disk 1. That's as far as you'll go if you're Mac is up-to-date. Adobe CS2 is a PowerPC software package no longer supported by Mac after version 10.7 (released to public on July 20th, 2011).

   

   Mac OS X Mavericks. Adobe CS2 installation
   Open .dmg files
   
   

    

   

   Mac OS X Mavericks. Adobe CS2 installation
   Double-click Adobe Installer

    

   

   Mac OS X Mavericks. Adobe CS2 installation
   Not supported by 10.7 and later versions
    due to lack of support for PowerPC

   
   
2. Continue if you're on Windows or Mac OS 10.6.9 or earlier by providing name and a serial number  

   

   Windows 8. Adobe CS2 installation - Personalization

3. Set the installation path and hit Next 

   

   Windows 8. Adobe CS2 installation - Location
4. Pick what to install and hit Next 

   

   Windows 7. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   Pick what to install and hit Next

   
   

   

   Windows 8. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   Pick what to install and hit Next

5. Review installation summary and click Install  

   

   Windows 8. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   Review summary and click Install. Go Back if necessary.

6. Register the product 

   

   Windows 7. Free Adobe CS2 installation - Register the product

   
   

   

   Windows 8. Free Adobe CS2 installation - Register the product

7. Check for updates 

   

   Windows 7. Free Adobe CS2 installation - Optional. Check for updates

   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   Windows 8. Free Adobe CS2 installation - Optional. Check for updates

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Set preferences of Adobe Updater on Windows 7

   

   Windows 7. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   Optional. Set updater preferences

   

   Windows 7. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   Most likely you will see the same prompt.
   No Updates Available
   
   
   Windows 8. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   
   Optional. Set updater preferences
   

   
   

   
   

   

   Windows 8. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   Adobe Updater

9. Check out what's been added to your tiles or start menu 

   

   Windows 7. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   ExtendScript Tool added to the main Start Menu

   
   

   

   Windows 7. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   Adobe folders and shortcuts added 
   to All Programs section of Start Menu

   
   

   

   Windows 8. Free Adobe CS2 installation
   Adobe tiles added to home screen

   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Reorganize things shortcuts, buttons and tile groups if necessary 

    

    Windows 7. Free Adobe CS2 installation

    Free free to reorganize Adobe shortcuts in the Start Menu
    

    
    

    
    

    

    Windows 8. Free Adobe CS2 installation
    Free free to reorganize Adobe tiles one home screen

    
    

    

    Windows 8. Free Adobe CS2 installation
    I strongly suggest creating and labeling a group of tiles 
    just added to your home screen as Adobe CS2

11. Run one of the applications installed
12. Enjoy the freebie

As you can see from successful operations above, free Adobe CS2 software is in fact free and it will serve you well on Windows and on a Mac OS X (if you're on a version earlier than 10.7). CS2 may be several years old, but that software still allows for faster, easier and more productive use of your time while working on documents, images, web content or audio. I'm not implying that you must install it on your machine; all I'm saying is that if you need basic features of Adobe CS software, and you're ok with an older (but still useful) piece of software, free Adobe CS2 is a legitimate, valid and good alternative.

Adobe gives out its CS2 software for free

Early this year, Adobe decided to lend a helping hand to those who would like to dabble with their software at home, but don't want to deal with "reader" versions or trimmed functionality of trial applications. 

Both Chromebook or Firefox OS won't work here, but if you're on a Mac or Windows, Adobe offers a lot for you:

• Installation instructions

• Mountable deployment packages for Mac and Windows discs

• Extras

• Video training materials

• Installation troubleshooting guides

Adobe CS2 Free Download

To get to those Adobe CS2 Downloads, click this link. Just in case, the full URL/address to the download page is https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=cs2_downloads.

There's a quite a bit of software to choose from:

• Creative Suite 2 (includes software packages listed below)

• Acrobat 3D 1.0 for Windows

• Acrobat Standard 7.0

• Acrobat Pro 7.0

• After Effects

• Audition 3.0

• GoLive CS2

• Illustrator CS2

• InCopy CS2

• InDesign CS2

• Photoshop CS2

• Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0

All you really need to do to get ALL of those goodies, is to create an Adobe Account (just as if you were setting up a new account on any other online portal or a shopping cart (no payment info necessary). Let me know if you run into any issues during the process, I may be able to help. Good luck! 

If you're still reading, stop! Just go to the CS2 download page and start downloading, installing and enjoying some really powerful software for free. Don't be bashful, get creative! 

iOS 7 beta 5 now available

iOS 7 beta 5 as well as Xcode 5 Developer Preview 5 are available on the iOS Dev Center for download. Try them out today and start developing more apps to take advantage of new multitasking APIs, dynamic motion controls in UIKit. New features also came to AirDrop and  Sprite Kit. That cake is also topped with enhanced video APIs and new features in Game Center as well as Map Kit.

iOS 7 beta 5 now available

They claim there's much more.

Can't wait to try!!

Save your iPhone battery. Turn off as many Foursquare features as possible.

Foursquare Radar Settings 

RADAR features of that social geotagging platform started killing smartphones' batteries. Disable that stuff to gain several hours of battery life of active participation in social media while you're on the go.

Radar Notification update in 4sq from several weeks ago was built to make your check-in activity faster, easier and more productive, mainly in 2 ways:

1. Shortcut to checking in - in some cases, 1 or 2 taps would suffice
2. Instead of searching for places to check-in to, 4sq would ask if you want to check-in to a place that you are relatively close to

One might think, what a relief to those who:

• use Foursquare to locate cool places in the area or for 
• those who are totally new and want to get to know their new neighborhoods. 

Theoretically, it is. However, instead of making it faster, easier and more productive for me, considering significant battery life impact, I started learn to live without those fugazy time saving features.

It turns out that Foursquare actually shares a warning pop-up message as you enable those battery draining qualities. You most likely must have tapped right through the update process to enable to battery eating monster. It did save a couple of searches and taps, but it kept me tied to wall outlets - waiting for my phone to charge up again. Not the best use of anyone's time. Instead of strolling the city, my eyes where looking for cafe's where I could sneak in 10-15 minutes of battery charge while sipping my Caramel Macchiato.

Try disabling those new features of Foursquare and you'll see your phone will not have to be charged as frequently. I wonder how many other mobile apps turn into battery life suckers once 1 or 2 new features get enabled.

Mobile technology in Edinburgh saves human limbs!

Edinburgh, UK

Scotland's Edinburgh proves mobile technology makes things you do faster, easier and more productive. Mobile can make things tremendously more pleasant. A lot of mobile promises for tourists and/or business travelers used to end up disappointing with slowness or lack of availability when desperately needed most. One of the biggest cities of UK cracks a whip on inconvenience and sequential way of doing things.


My wife and I spent a weekend in Edinburgh, UK. I packed lightly and caught a flight to Glasgow. Yes, Glasgow - I felt like checking out Edinburgh's main transit stations on a train ride from Glasgow via ScotRail. That is where a list of positive mobile experiences begins:

1. Relax, stretch and quiet down while getting your mobile gear in order
2. Let your phone tell  you what's hot in the area
3. Scan to get in-the-know
4. Love mobile versions of websites
5. Mobile payment at your coffee shop
6. Buy a ticket on your phone and avoid losing a limb

Relax, stretch and quiet down while getting your mobile gear in order

I realized that getting a 1st class ticket might be an overkill. In comparison to WizzAir, ScotRail has a royal treatment for you in 1st class. Super comfy, adjustable and large seats' space give access to working outlets. You don't hunch at an outlet in a restroom to get some juice in your smartphone's battery. While it's charging you are pampered with newly implemented WiFi on the train. 

Let your phone tell you what's hot in the area

Princess Street in Edinburgh is stuffed with mobile technology stores including mobile/cellular carriers. As of March 22nd 2013, 10 GBP will get you 500MB of internet connectivity from Vodafone, while stores like EE will hook you up with UNLIMITED bandwidth for 16 pounds (among many other options). Let your phone devour that pure Scottish bandwidth. Foursquare can tell you what's sponsored or what your friends recommend, but if not too many of your connections on 4sq frequent the British Islands, a mobile app called Welcome to Scotland with provide recommendations. Download it via WiFi while on the train, have a game plan for your trip by the time you get to your destination.

Scan to get in-the-know

As you stroll around Edinburgh, your eyes tend to catch those white-and-black collections of tiny squares called QR codes. Hold your phone to it for a second or two and find out more about bus tours, attractions of the area or stores as you pass them along enchanting Princes Street.

Love mobile versions of websites

It's hard not to get yourself enclosed in horizons defines by beautiful outlines of old castles. Google random two keywords "castle edinburgh" and you'll find local castle's website. Not that full size, flash-bloated and overwhelming portal for PCs with 21" monitors. Mobile version of the site will provide more than you need to know IN AN INSTANT. It's super fast and it has all the info you might need to know while a female companion hold your arm in awe of admiration. Seriously, the days of mobile versions of sites being border-line useless are over according to webmasters on the east coast of Scotland.

Mobile payment at your coffee shop

Starbucks' mobile payment success is so yesterday's news, but you can't yet use it in every storefront on the globe. Certain regions that host Starbucks may still have security, technology or staff training restrictions preventing coffee connoisseurs from the fastest and most convenient method of payment known to mankind. Scotland is not one of those regions - quite the contrary, those squiggly rotating scanning devices are ready to go in multiple locations of Edinburgh. After you freeze your ass off and make a caffeine pit stop at Seattle's famous coffee giant, the last thing you desire is to sift through foreign currency to pay for anything. Waving Starbucks mobile app on your phone screen is much faster, easier and more pleasant.

Buy a ticket on your phone and avoid losing a limb

Last weekend was horrendously cold in Edinburgh. Strong gusts of wind would sometimes sway us front side to side as we walked yet another crossing of Rose Street. Several degrees below zero combined with strong wind that makes snow fall vertically freezes your butt off. A walk up to the top of a tall castle hill overlooking entire city and providing a glimpse of the shoreline makes your limbs feel stiff by the time you get to the main gate where the ticket office is. Half a mile long serpentine-shaped queue is the last thing your frozen butt wants to see on a blistering cold day. Pull out your phone, recall castle's mobile site, tap Buy Tickets, enter your credit card number from the comfort of a nearby general info booth. Quick print from a ticket terminal gets you back on track, while the ticket center's multiple windows handled perhaps 3 spots from the queue. Had we waited on that queue we would most likely end up in barderline-amputation-severity frost bites.

For that reason, I dare to claim that

" Mobile technology in Edinburgh saves human limbs! "

If you don't believe it, share your insights below. Intrigued to find out your thoughts on mobile in Scotland.
Happy journeys!

Coffee. Smartphone. Music. Easy.

Starbucks Mobile App - tap Messages

Remember times when all guns were pointed at Napster? Music industry was forced to undergo a seismic shift since those days and so did technology. But there were times in the past when technology disappointed with half-baked solutions that only geeks (like me) had patience to deal with. These days mobile technology really makes listening to quality new music cheaper, faster, easier and more productive than even before. Coffee lovers already now know how Starbucks mobile app is a great example of that.  

Apple's iTunes system provides a way to not only buy but also redeem gifts or retrieve content downloadable for free with coupons. To get a piece of free music like that, the most optimistic case scenario would call for the following routine:

1. Drive to one of Starbucks store locations in your area
2. Get the coupon (paper slip with a scratch-off) from a Starbucks Store
3. Connect to WiFi on your iPhone or any other iDevice
4. Open iTunes
5. Dig up a spot where you could redeem your coupon
6. Type in your cryptic coupon code
7. Type it in again because it's borderline impossible to get it right the first time
8. Wait for iTunes reaction. If you survived until this step, please continue to be patient
9. Wait for the download to start
10. Check when the download completes
11. Navigate your Purchased and/or Downloaded section of the music player on your iDevice

Oooph! 11 steps?! There's got to be a better way to see what our trusted brands have to suggest and offer to us. 

The answer to that cry is mobile technology, beautifully integrated and smoothly connected. As +Dirk Talamasca points out, you can do magic with the Starbucks mobile app, but I think...  

... this time technology really makes your life easier

1. Install a free Starbucks app
2. Open it and tap once on Messages
3. Tap once on Pick of the Week
4. Tap Download Now

That's it. As graphics below show, after about a minute, that song gets added to your playlist while you sip your grande Caramel Macchiato. No crashes. No syncing through a USB cable. No typing. No BS. Piece of everyday technology in your hand just:

• connected your coffee shop with your phone
• plugged your phone right into a music store
• provided a piece of latest and trending music to you
• seamlessly added a new song to your playlist
• saved you time, made your life faster, easier and more productive
• saved you money, and you didn't even have to switch to Geico

I bet +Courtney Engle Robertson or +Peg Fitzpatrick would agree when I say "How awesome is that!" That's what technology should be to people - a way to make our lives easier.

Starbucks Mobile App - Tap once on Pick of The Week

Starbucks Mobile App - Tap Download Now

Starbucks Mobile App - Just wait a quick minute

Starbucks Mobile App - Your music is downloading automatically

Starbucks Mobile App - Your music is already added to your playlist

Starbucks Mobile App - 1 minute from opening the app, new cool music is playing on your iDevice or an Android

Samsung Galaxy S4 | Life Companion is knocking it out of the park

Samsung Galaxy S4 Unpacked - New York - March 14th 2013

There is so much new going on in Samsung Galaxy S4. They call it the Life Companion

Techy, dry yet impressive improvements are:  

1. Network: 3G (HSPA+ 42Mbps) : 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 Mhz
2. Display: 4.99 inch Full HD Super AMOLED [1920x1080] display [441 ppi]
3. OS version: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
4. Main Camrea (Rear): 13 megapixel AF camera with Flash & Zero Shutter Lag BIS
5. Sub Camera (Front): 2 megapixel camera, Full HD recording830fps with Zero Shutter Lag BIS
6. Video: Codec: MPEG4, H 262, DivX, DivX3.11, VC-1, VP8, WMV7/8, Sorenson Spark, HEVC 
7. Video Recording and Playback: Full HD1080p
8. Audio: Codec: MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/AAC+, WMA, OGG, FLAC, AC-3, apt-X
9. Connectivity: WiFi a/b/g/n/ac [HT80], GPS/GLONASS, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 [BLE], IR LED (Remote control) MHL 2.0
10. Sensor: Accelerometer, RGB light, Digital Compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer, IR Geature, Temperature & Humidity
11. Memory: 2GB LPDDR3 RAM, 16 / 32 / 64 GB User Memory + microSD (up to 64GB)
12. Dimension: 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm, 130g
13. Battery: 2600mAh

Those fancy features could lead to the following applications:

1. Screen reacts to a touch through a glove
2. You can embed yourself in a video that you are taking
3. You can embed yourself in a picture that you are taking
4. You can have a 3-way video call that uses both front and back cameras at the same time while also displaying the 3rd video feed on the screen
5. S Transation: Voice to text and text to speech translation. 9 Languages
6. Library of communication phrases in multiple languages available even without network connectivity
7. Faster internet connection
8. Wider range of supported connection technologies
9. Backup and restore from any other smartphone with any other mobile OS 
10. Air Gesture
11. Smart Scroll / Pause: phone automatically pauses if you look away
12. S Health: connected to exercise gadgets though many of the new sensors
13. S Voice Drive: Voice activated handsfree operation of the maps and built in GPS
14. Voice activated message reading and writing
15. Drama Shot feature - 100 shots in a second lets you pick the best one
16. Eraser: let's you pick an area from a picture and erase with one tap
17. Air View: just like on your Samsung Note but using just your finger, not the stylus anymore
18. Adapt Display: makes images more comfortable for your eyes to watch
19. Story Album: automatic album creating feature - you just pick a template for a cover and for the pages and / or add text to pictures 
20. Blurb integration: $10-$ 30 for a hardcopy album of shots from your Story Album
21. Home Sync Device: ability to display newly takes picture at home while their being taken. 1 TB of cloud storage for your pictures and videos taken with Galaxy S4. Up to 8 users and each of them can have their own chunk of the storage. View content on a home TV in Full HD
22. Samsung Hub: videos, games, books, learning with an intuitive magazine feature
23. Samsung Knox: lock your device down to keep it safe - separate your phone info personal and corporate side of things. Privacy for you, security for your manager
24. Group Play: turn up to 8 Samsung Galaxy S4 Devices into a multichannel boombox. It also allows you to share pictures and videos
25. Accessories: S view cover (see what's happening without opening the cover), flip cover, pouch

That was an impressive Unpacking show. It's hard to pick a favorite new feature. I think I like that 1TB Home Sync the most... 

What's your favorite?

You can watch a repeat of Samsung Galaxy S4 Unpacked show online. Alternative URL will also point you to YouTube.