Adobe outlines Leopard compatibility

Adobe on Friday announced that most of it most popular products were compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, but that many of its applications would require forthcoming updates -- due in December 2007 and January 2008 -- for full compatibility with Apple's newest operating system. Most of its Creative Suite 3 Web are certified and fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, including Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3, GoLive CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, Fireworks CS3, Flash CS3, InCopy/InDesign CS3, and Contribute CS3.

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional and its professional video applications, including Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, After Effects CS3 Professional, Encore CS3, and Soundbooth CS3 will need updates -- all of which are expected to be freely available in December 2007, while updates for Acrobat 8 Professional and Adobe Reader 8 are expected in January 2008.

The company, however, confirmed that most of the CS3 applications and associated technologies, such as Adobe Bridge CS3, Version Cue CS3, and Device Central CS3, are compatible with Mac OS X Leopard without requiring additional updates.

"Adobe and Apple have been collaborating closely for months to ensure that Adobe Creative Suite 3 applications can run smoothly and reliably on Mac OS X Leopard, the company said. "We are proud to support this impressive new operating system, and to ensure that our creative customers can take full advantage of the performance and value of using Creative Suite 3 applications and Mac OS X Leopard on Intel-based and PowerPC Macs."

Adobe said that its testing showed that most CS3 applications perform well on Leopard (and that others run well but need updates for a few identified issues), but recognized that other issues may unexpectedly arise on any new operating system. The company said that it will continue test and to monitor user experience closely to address any such issues, and encouraged feedback via its website.

The company said that older versions of Adobe and Macromedia applications may work with Leopard, but warned against incompatibilities and said that its older products would not be updated for Leopard.

"While older Adobe applications may install and run on Mac OS X Leopard, they were designed, tested, and released to the public several years before this new operating system became available," Adobe wrote in its FAQ. "You may, therefore, experience a variety of installation, stability, and reliability issues for which there is no resolution."

The full FAQ is available on Adobe's website.

Filed under: Apple