A bit of buzz has stirred after Adobe strangely put up its Creative Suite 2 software, including programs like Photoshop CS2 and Illustrator 2 up for download for free on their website. The free downloads included a full version of the program that didn’t require a unique serial key to be activated.

Of course many believed that Adobe were putting the software up for free simply because they had turned off the activation servers for the eight year old software, which would make sense as a new purchaser was much more likely to buy something newer that would better support the current OS’s. However, only part of this was true; Adobe did in fact shut down the CS2 activation servers late last year, but as complaints started to hit the company about not being able to re-download a package they had already purchased, Adobe then followed to put the program up for free to these customers.

Adobe then told customers that to legally use the software, they still had to have purchased a valid license beforehand, but the doors to the free downloads and serial keys are still open, and in fact, Adobe have even opened it up wider by turning off the requirement to log into adobe before accessing the page.

CS2 may run poorly on newer OS’s, and it’s outdated to say the least, but as it’s been put up for free to download, I don’t expect anyone will hesitate to grab themselves a copy, even if doing some seems to fall into a bit of a grey area. CS2 might be outdated, but for those with really basic photo-editing needs, it could still be more than enough to meet their needs.

Do you think it’s fair to take advantage of Adobe putting the software up for free on their website? What are your experiences with CS2 on newer operating systems?

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