Question about switching photoshop from Pc to Mac

[JodyGall]

I'm just curious. Have any of you had Photoshop and switched from a PC to a Mac? We just bought our first Mac and were told by Adobe that they would exchange our CS3 that we had for the Mac version at no charge. So far it hasn't happened. Grrrr. We have a slight battle going on with Adobe right now. I'm just curious to see if anyone else has gone through this. Did they exchange your Photoshop for free? Or did you just purchase an upgrade? Or did you have to buy it outright again? We're getting told different things by different people from Adobe....and I'm about over it.

So thought I'd take an little unofficial poll....

[OsmosisStudios]

When you go from PC to Mac or vice-versa you DO have to have the appropriate version: I took the opportunity to upgrade from CS2 to CS4.

Ive heard of them gladly switching versions like that either for free or for a small fee: how long have you been waiting?

[JodyGall]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Ive heard of them gladly switching versions like that either for free

This is what I was told by Adobe. But now they are changing their tune. They told us they don't have any more CS3 ANYWHERE. So I would have to upgrade to CS4 out of pocket for $350. But another person at Adobe said they always keep one version back in stock. So they have plenty of CS3 now. When they release CS5....THEN they won't have CS3 anymore. So since they already told me they would switch out my CS3 for the Mac version, they are now telling me they don't have anymore CS3 and can't do it. I told them, that's not my fault. They should honor their word and still switch out my Windows version for a Mac version. If that means they have to give me CS4, then that's their problem. They don't see it that way. They think I should purchase it. Anywhoooo....its an ongoing battle right now. We are 'supposedly' waiting approval from supervisors on the whole trading out our CS3 for CS4. So who knows. Its been almost 3 days since we were told we needed 2 supervisors approvals. They said it would take 24-48 hours for that. But we've been dealing with this for over a week. Ack.

On a side note...I have several photographer friends who switched over to Mac with no problems. Adobe sent them the Mac version, no problems. They can't believe I'm having such a hard time. I just don't understand it. Oh, and every time we call, we are put on hold for anywhere from 1-3 hours. HOURS. We end up hanging up, or they just disconnect us. Last night we were on hold for 245 minutes! It was just a matter of principle at that time to see how long it took them, ya know? Its so frustrating.

[benjamieson]

While you're dealing with it, if you need to get work done, just download the 30 day trial of the Mac version from Adobe.com. Once you get your license key form them, you can officially activate the trial without a re-install.

Good luck, and be sure to post the outcome!

[rosserx]

You are absolutely right. I would be fuming too if Adobe or anyone else told me one thing one day then something else the next. I don't know if you would be interested in this as an absolute last resort. You have a new Mac with an Intel chip I presume. Have you considered trying Parallels Desktop? You can run windows on a mac. Then you'd be able to continue using your windows version CS3. Here is a link for more info.

I have never used it cause my PowerBook G4 is still running strong, so I don't know much about it. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you.

[OsmosisStudios]

3 days isn't too long, especially for something this complex. Give them a chance to sort it out: they could be backlogged.

[JodyGall]

So a little update....we were not approved for the CS4. But, we are still waiting to hear back from a supervisor.

But for fun...i just called Adobe back and asked the question over to someone new........i have a PC, I have CS3 Extended.....if I want to buy a Mac, do I have to rebuy Photoshop? The lady said absolutely not. They would confirm my serial # and send out a Mac version free of charge. I would only have to pay for shipping.

So, what do I do now.....la di da....la di da. I'm just about over it. I'm at the point of just saying screw it all and buy it, just so I don't have to deal with them anymore. Is $350 worth it to keep my sanity? Or heck, I guess I could spend $200 for the regular CS4 and save a little money. But its just a matter of principle. They keep telling us they will give us the Mac version for free, but yet when we go to do it, they won't. I don't get it. Ugh. I'm so stubborn when it comes to stuff like this. LOL!

I think I shall go watch some cartoons with my daughter and call it a day. LOL!

[sk66]

or switch to GIMP...
There are some definite advantages to open source software...

(I've used GIMP, but I'm primarily an adobe user)

[JodyGall]

A couple more updates....let's see...last time I posted was Friday morning...

So Friday afternoon, DH talked to Adobe again. They basically said (in not so many words), that it is not their fault they don't have CS3 to exchange for us, so we HAVE to buy CS4 if we want it. Basically we're screwed. So Friday afternoon, I called Corporate. I spoke to the secretary and told her our story. She then wrote an email on my behalf and sent it to the 'Customer Manager of America', then she put me through to her voice mail so I could leave a message also.

so now today. I receive CS4 on my doorstep this morning. Looks like it was overnighted by the shipping label. I call my credit card and listen to the last 5 transactions...nothing from Adobe. Ok. I check my email...there is an email from Adobe. This is basically what it said (minus all the customer id numbers, case numbers, telephone numbers, etc):

Dear Jody,
This is regarding to your cross platform upgrade. Let me assist you with that. I would like to inform you that your order is already completed. You can expect your product within 4-7 business days.

Meanwhile, i received that email late Sunday night. So it was here this morning (less than two days, shipped overnight. Soooo....I assume it was taken care of. But i'm not sure. It doesn't state anywhere if they charged us or not. I have no idea if corporate contacted them. Haven't heard back from them. But I'm assuming they did with as fast as I received this. I don't know. I would just hate to open this, install it, then a couple days from now a charge show up on my credit card. I suppose I'll try to call them back and confirm we were not charged anything. But who knows if I'll actually get through to cusomer service or not. LOL! Fingers crossed that all my persistance paid off.