Well, it’s April 12th 2010 and the launch event has concluded; which mean I’m no longer under embargo regarding the Adobe Creative Suite 5 products!
I’ve been involved in various pre-release programs over the past release cycle ranging from the collective Flash Platform development tools to design apps like Photoshop and Illustrator… even some exciting post-CS5 products that promise to be astounding additions to the Adobe lineup.
I know for a fact that one of the major concerns for CS5 product engineers has been quality and stability. From my experience with the products I have used (and I’ve even used many of these for production projects!) this is a major advancement in the Creative Suite set of tools with unquestionable reliability across all segments.
It’s absolutely awesome to see such a wide array of excellent products evolve from unrefined initial builds to full product releases. The Adobe community as a whole is the most passionate group of people I’ve ever been involved with – the prerelease segment is no exception.
Some personal highlights for this release include:
- Flash Professional, Flash Builder, and Flash Catalyst – Having all three major Flash products included together in the Creative Suite is such a great addition to the Flash Platform workflow enabling a wide range of design -> development solutions across the board.
- Photoshop Mixer Brush – I’ve wanted a tool like this in Photoshop since I first started using it a decade ago. My Wacom tablet works killer with this!
- Illustrator Bristle Brush – See above. Ditto.
- XFL, FXG, File Types – From super-useful transport formats to the new XML-based Flash authoring files (full version control system support!). Major win all around.
- Mercury Playback Engine – The commitment to 64-bit along with a total rewrite of the playback engine makes the video apps a must have upgrade. Even without specific hardware configurations, the software acceleration is unbelievable.
- After Effects Roto Brush – Have you seen this thing? C’mon!
Of course, there are a ton of other features you can read about here. Adobe: “lazy”? Hell, no!
Who wants to see some screenshots?
Flash Professional CS5 – Adobe AIR 2 Project
Photoshop Extended CS5 – Mixer Brush
Dreamweaver CS5 – HTML5 Support
Flash Professional CS5 – XFL File Format