Ever since the inception of Adobe’s various software programs, they seem to have maintained a pretty solid reputation in certain circles.  Certainly Flash, Dreamweaver, After Effects, and of course, the most popular amonst the public, Photoshop.  Over the years they have released different versions, always promising leaps and bounds but not all the upgrades have been worth the additional funds.  Well, here we go again.  Adobe CS4.   The newest in a long line of software upgrades, which like all the ones before it, promise new features and better workflow, so the question is, is it worth it?  

The answer really comes in two different forms, I know that’s not what some want to hear, they just want a quick YES or NO but really it’s not that simple.  While some of the programs such as Flash have had their workflow changed from their standard layout and have had some intuitive features added such as object based animation, 3D transformations, and meta data support, just to name a few, really most haven’t done too much.  And unless you’ve been living with Adobe Cs2 for the past two years, I can’t really seem to think that most will find these editions something they’ll “need” to continue to serve their clients.  However, there is one BIG factor that may sway those to open their wallets.  Adobe CS4 is now optimized to run in a 64 bit platform, which may sound like a gimmic but having tested the difference I can assure you that this should be taken under serious consideration for those who consider time and efficiency a factor in their work.  For myself, working with CS4 After Effects on a 64 bit Vista platform, while maybe not black and white, did made a difference, and was still noticable enough for me to say “Hmm, now THATS interesting…”

Overall I would say if your working well with CS3 and booting along fine, don’t bother, but if your looking for an edge, and have the system to run it, you may want to grab the new Adobe Cs4 either packaged or indiviually, because you WILL notice a better performance from a 64 bit platform.  I’ve included an interesting look at one of the new features in Adobe After Effects CS4 via video below, it’s called the Cartoon Effect.