Adobe ships Creative Suite 5

Designers and developers in a range of creative professions can now get their hands on Adobe's new Creative Suite 5, which ships today.

Whether the new features in updated versions of stalwarts like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash and Premiere Pro are worth the prices Adobe charges is a subject of debate every time a new Creative Suite appears.

The fact is, though, that many users have invested so much time and professional effort into Adobe's applications that they are effectively locked into the company's offerings, despite the availability of free open-source alternatives in some cases — GIMP for Photoshop, for example.

There are four main versions of Adobe CS5: Design Premium (£1,509 ex. VAT), Web Premium (£1,429), Production Premium (£1,509) and Master Collection (£2,303).