Adobe giving away Photoshop CS2 for free!

<p>Just in case any of you are on a tight budget like me, Adobe are now giving away CS2 free of charge <a href="http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=cs2_downloads&pid=4485850">here</a>.</p>

<p>I successfully downloaded it earlier this evening, although the site is currently showing as temporarily unavailable.</p>

<p>Hope this helps someone!</p>

<p>Chris</p>

<p>Beware of giant download sizes. The site is not using the normal Adobe Download Manager so it may take a while to download the entire file.</p>

<p><Chas><br /><br /></p>

<p>Oh and there are some compatibility issues with Windows 7. See <a href="http://forums.adobe.com/thread/759091?PID=4485850">here </a></p>

<p><Chas><br /><br /></p>

<p>That URL is dead (for what I'd suspect is obvious reasons). </p>

<p>I found the link via this PetaPixel <a href="http://www.petapixel.com/2013/01/07/adobe-may-be-offering-a-free-and-legal-download-of-creative-suite-2/">article</a> and it worked about three hours ago. Hopefully it'll work again once the initial demand passes.....</p>

<p>Edit: I've just noticed the update comment on the PetaPixel article saying that the download is only for existing CS2 users. Well I have never owned the full Photoshop (only Elements) and it has worked for me. </p>

<p>Chris</p>

<p>If you have a Mac, CS2 doesn't work with OS-X 10.7 or later.</p>

<p>I'll bet dollars to doughnuts this is totally bogus. Why would Adobe do this? CS2 when CS6 is out makes zero sense. When I click on the link, it seems like there is some initial URL that gets redirected then gets to the page that says it's down. And as Charles points out, Adobe usually provides ADM to handle these big downloads. The entire thing smells fishy.</p>

<p>This is what I see...</p><div></div>

<p>Ouch. Legit but is unstable with my Mac 10.5.8. Keeps crashing or freezing :(</p>

<p>Technically Adobe is NOT giving away the software for free. It is for current license holders, see this Adobe post for more information:</p>

<p><a href="http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2013/01/update-on-cs2-and-acrobat-7-activation-servers.html?PID=4485850">http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2013/01/update-on-cs2-and-acrobat-7-activation-servers.html?PID=4485850</a></p>

<p>This site below had even more information and previously working download links pointing directly to adobe downloads here: http://download.adobe.com/pub/adobe/magic/creativesuite/....<br>

<a href="http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/87488/adobe-adobe-creative-suite-cs2-standard-pc-or-mac-digital-download">http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/87488/adobe-adobe-creative-suite-cs2-standard-pc-or-mac-digital-download</a></p>

<p>Since I need CS6 more than I need CS2 which doesn't run on my mac anyway, I am much less interested in this than possibly someone else.</p>

<p>Andrew, the CS2 download is totally legitimate. I've done it, although I am a registered user of CS2.<br>

I discovered it when I wanted to move my CS2 to another computer and when I tried to Activate the new installation, a message appeared that the Activation Server was unavailable, and hence I couldn't run my CS2.<br>

By searching with Google and on the Adobe site I then discovered that Adobe had closed Activation Server for CS2 products, but a free download was available which didn't need Activation. I needed my Adobe ID to access the download.<br>

So I downloaded it and all is well. It installs without requiring Activation.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Andrew, the CS2 download is totally legitimate. I've done it, although I am a registered user of CS2.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>So have I (and nearly all modern versions of Photoshop). What IS fishy is the idea of the OP:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Adobe are now giving away CS2 <strong>free of charge</strong> <a href="http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=cs2_downloads&pid=4485850" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Both of us had legitimate purchases of Photoshop right? It wasn't free and isn't free for everyone else is it? </p>

<p>Well I seem to be able to download it from the given link, without signing in to my Adobe ID, on two different computers.<br>

I don't see anything "fishy" or "bogus" about it.<br>

Has anyone else managed to download it?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>What IS fishy is the idea of the OP</p>

</blockquote>

<p>To be fair Andrew, Geoff is just repeating what he will have read: umpteen tech sites said just the same thing when the news first broke - Adobe is giving CS2 away.</p>

<p>It was only later that Adobe clarified what was going on.</p>

<p>F'rinstance:</p>

<p>http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/01/why-adobes-massive-photoshop-fail-couldve-been-a-clever-business-move/</p>

<p>Which takes you to:</p>

<p>http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/01/grab-photoshop-and-cs2-for-absolutely-free-right-now/</p>

<blockquote>

<p>To be fair Andrew, Geoff is just repeating what he will have read: umpteen tech sites said just the same thing when the news first broke - Adobe is giving CS2 away.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Trust but verify. Such umpteen tech sites in a rush to get their news out didn't verify. But in a world where getting lots of hits is more important, can we blame them? </p>

<blockquote>

<p>Adobe is absolutely <em>not </em>providing free copies of CS2!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Just what I suspected.<br /></p>

 

<p>Yes, but it does explain why Geoff wrote what he did.</p>

<p>If it sounds too good to be true....<br>

I don't blame Jeff at all. The web sites that got it wrong, they deserve the blame. And worse, the one site linked above, the author rants that Adobe <strong>should</strong> give away old versions of their software. Come on. As pointed out, CS2 is REALLY old in terms of software, can't even run on a lot of modern hardware. Adobe should give it away, then take the hit in terms of tech support calls for free software? <br>

Lesson to be learned is at least of few of these so called tech sites should be avoided. </p>

<p>Understood, Andrew.</p>

<p>It's rather weird, though - I personally know a couple of people who reckon they did get a free, working copy of CS2 out of this by getting in quick, before Adobe "clarified". </p>

<p><a href="http://www.free-stuff.co.uk/Free_Adobe_CS2_Creative_Suite_Download_Links.php">This page</a> for example, still carries the download links <em>and </em>the requisite serial numbers to activate the software.</p>

<p>My gut feeling is that Adobe <em>did </em>initially present an - unintended - opportunity.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I personally know a couple of people who reckon they did get a free, working copy of CS2 out of this by getting in quick, before Adobe "clarified".</p>

</blockquote>

<p>But were they able to activate it? </p>

<p>For the sake of clarity:<br>

I did not originate this topic.<br>

In my first post, I was not repeating what I had read elsewhere, I simply recounted my experience when I tried to move my CS2 to a new computer, which I did on Dec 19th, ie well before this "giveaway" was reported widely.</p>

 

<p>Andrew, the "giveaway" version does NOT need activation.<br /> The Activation server is no longer in use. Please re-read my first post.<br /> The serial number provided alongside the download link is all that you need.</p>

<p>Good question, Andrew - and I don't actually know, but if the activation servers are (or were) down, I guess it's possible.</p>

<p>http://www.forbes.com/sites/adriankingsleyhughes/2013/01/07/download-adobe-cs2-applications-for-free/</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>You have heard wrong! <strong>Adobe is absolutely not providing free copies of CS2!</strong></em><br>

<em>You are only legally entitled to download and install with that serial number if you have a valid license to the product!</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yes, that's Adobe's much later retraction/clarification, Andrew.</p>

<p>CS2 is kind of slow and hogs-up a tremendous amount of computer resources. It works fine with XP not sure about the other operating systems.</p>