Is Adobe software available in "Universal Binary" format? If not, when will the software be released? How fast are their existing programs on the Intel-based Macs?

At the beginning of 2006, Adobe released a FAQ regarding support for Intel-based Macs. The entire FAQ should be read in its entirety, but in particular, Adobe notes that the company:

Does not plan to re-release current products as Universal applications that can run natively on both Intel- and PowerPC-based systems. This applies to Adobe Creative Suite 2. . . as well as individual applications such as Photoshop CS2, InDesign CS2, [and] Illustrator CS2. . . Instead we are focused on delivering the next versions of these products as Universal applications that will run natively on the new Intel-based Mac computers.

Regarding the performance of the "Rosetta" emulation environment using their products optimized for the PowerPC, Adobe states that the applications "should run" but they "have not been extensively tested" and:

May be noticeably slower than they are running on PowerPC-based Macs. Instead of experiencing much-anticipated speed enhancements, customers are likely to see some degradation of performance. . . Mac-based customers looking for optimal performance may prefer to run [our current software] on PowerPC systems until we release future versions of our software as Universal applications.

As for when Creative Suite 3 will ship, Adobe says:

Has a corporate policy of not commenting on future ship dates. However, to provide rough guidelines for planning this transition, we can point to our consistent track record of releasing significant upgrades to our creative professional applications every 18-24 months.

Adobe shipped Creative Suite 2 on April 27, 2005. Assuming that the company is able to release the next version 18-24 months from April 2005, one could expect a "Universal" version of "Creative Suite 3" to ship between October 2006 and April 2007. It is worth noting that this is a goal, not a pledge. In a March 23, 2006, interview with Forbes, Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen said that Adobe Creative Suite 3 "will be introduced in the second quarter of 2007".

On December 14, 2006, Adobe announced that the beta version of Photoshop CS3 was available for download. Those in "mission critical" environments would be wise to wait for the final release said to ship in "Spring 2007", but those interested in living on the edge may choose to give the new software a try. Please do not run beta software on production systems and backup everything prior to installing any beta software.

The always excellent MacWorld and BareFeats released tests comparing the speed of the beta version of Photoshop CS3 to Photoshop CS2 on the Intel-based Mac Pro and the PowerPC-based Power Macintosh G5. The complete articles from each website should be read in its entirety for the full perspective provided by the authors, but each was pleased that CS3 running natively on the Mac Pro is much faster than CS2 running under "Rosetta", often nearly twice as fast.

BareFeats wisely noticed that:

The Mac Pro running CS3 is 86% faster than the Quad-Core G5 running our MP6 test (20 History States). However, it is only 10% faster running the Retouch Artists' test (20 History States). That second stat is especially interesting when you take into account the Mac Pro's 20% faster clock speed.

MacWorld concluded that:

In all the tests the Intel Mac (Mac Pro and MacBook Pro) beat its corresponding PowerPC cousin (Power Mac G5 and PowerBook G4), although the four PowerPC cores on the Power Mac G5 kept that machine pretty close in overall speed to the newer Mac Pro.

Ultimately, those who depend on Photoshop for day-to-day work will be thrilled when the final version of Photoshop CS3 is released. No doubt the arrival of Adobe's other products in "Universal Binary" format are highly anticipated as well.

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