The wait is finally over as Apple recently announced the release of the latest Mac OS X software update. Mac OS X 10.5.4 Leopard includes some general operating system improvements which enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac. Find out the specifics of all the new changes in our full article.

It may have been slightly pre-empted by Amazon, but Adobe has finally formally announced Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended.

 

According to MacNN, the upcoming Photoshop CS3 is called a "major upgrade," coming with new innovations in editing power and productivity for designers and photographers. An entirely new version, Photoshop CS3 Extended, also has valuable tools for 3D, motion graphics, image measurement and analysis for professionals.

Consumers can get Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended as stand-alone applications or as part of the expanded Adobe Creative Suite 3. Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended will begin shipping in April to customers in the United States and Canada. The former carries an estimated street price of US$ 650, with upgrades going for US$ 200. The latter, meanwhile, will go for an estimated price of US$ 1000, with upgrades starting at US$ 350.

Good news, Apple fanpeople. According to BusinessWeek.com, Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora upgraded computer and iPod maker Apple Inc. on Monday. This was due to predictions of an earlier-than-expected launch of both the company's new operating system and Adobe's Creative Suite 3.

Tortora expects Mac OS X Leopard and Creative Suite 3 to be released simultaneously at the end of March. This is about one or two months ahead of Wall Street expectations. While we've just posted a clarification regarding the launch of Adobe's CS3, an early appearance for Leopard will surely be a delight for Apple fans the world over.

Tortora also predicted that Apple will benefit from the launch of the iPhone. The device is slated for a June release in the U.S., followed by Europe in the fourth quarter and in Asia in early 2007. Tortora boosted the Cupertino-based company to "Overweight" from "Neutral Weight" and raised his price target to US$ 105 from US$ 100.

Consider this post an addendum to our earlier post regarding the launch of Adobe's Creative Suite 3.0. According to AppleInsider, the new bundles will indeed be announced at a special event later this month, but that doesn't mean they'll be shipping immediately.

"We are announcing Creative Suite 3 on March 27th," Cara Cassidy, a member of Adobe's Creative Solutions PR team, wrote in a blog posting this week. "However, the software will not ship until later in Spring 2007."

Cassidy confirmed in the same blog post that the launch will indeed be webcast live at 3:30 PM ET. "During the webcast, Adobe will reveal the features and suite configurations that make this the largest software release in Adobe's 25 year history," she wrote. Details on how to view the March 27 webcast will be made available on Adobe.com later this week.

Finally, all you graphically-inclined art buffs can rest easy (hey! that's me included!). The release date of not just Photoshop CS3, but the entire Creative Suite 3 has now been confirmed. A few weeks ago, it was mere speculation. Today though, AppleInsider fleshes out the details of the CS3 launch.

Adobe will have a global launch of their graphics package on March 27 at an event in New York, and it will be webcast live at 8:30 p.m., UK time. The software company has even mentioned that this special event will be "the largest software release in Adobe's 25-year history."

Upon release, Adobe will be offering a whole line of distinct bundles that will include various combinations of the specific software in their CS3 package. And, with Adobe's acquiring of Macromedia back in 2005, what we can expect in this third-gen CS is the replacement of GoLive and Image Ready by Dreamweaver CS3 and Fireworks CS3, respectively.

After a long time of waiting, Chad Siegel, Adobe's InDesign product manager, finally offered a glimpse of what the company had in store for Mac users. During a demo using a MacBook Pro, he showed new InDesign features that are only part of a bigger selection of Creative Suite 3 features.

One of those shown was several time-saving features directed to designers as part of InDesign's "investment in workflow." New editing and image import features which will be available for the next iteration of Photoshop were also shown.

There are still some problems though with the new Creative Suite 3 as the MacBook Pro crashed while being used to demonstrate the new application's power. Adobe InDesign will continue to work on this to make its compatibility with Macs flawless. So I guess we'll still have to wait some more.