Good golly, trying to decide which version of CS4 is as mind boggling as choosing which version of Windows one needs.

Amazing, Grace.

Just a brief rant, thanks for listening, I'll be here all week.

Well, I don't need CS4 or Windows (both are getting to be way overpriced), so I'm good.

Of course, you can get really creative and try to figure out which version of Windows will run which CS4 package.

Now my head is about to explode, thanks.

Luckily this is on a Mac.

CS3 Design Standard here, and I found my legit copy for several hundred less that list at the time. I dunno, at what point are the bells and whistles just that? Granted, I'm not working in a high-end environment, but I cruise the Adobe User forums daily and I'm just not seeing any compelling reason to move up.

I'll probably wait until CS10, and then take the leap more out of embarrassment at my behindness, than any actual need for more than what suits my porpoises just fine.

For me, transparent blends in Illustrator was worth the upgrade price ...

Now, if Corel would just update KPT to work with these versions of Photoshop I'd be a happy camper -- I still haven't found any plug-ins that replicate FraxFlame, Blurrrrr or the Lens Flare. Or heck, as long as I'm dreaming, bring back Shatter for Illustrator as well ^_^

I honestly don't see why it's difficult. You have a Design bundle, a Web bundle (with two variants of each), and a Production bundle (for video pros).

Design bundle
If you're a print designer ONLY = Design Standard
If you're mostly print design, but a bit of Web design (or lots of Flash design) = Design Premium

Web bundle
If you're a Web designer and do NO PRINT DESIGN AT ALL = Web Standard
If you're a pro Web designer and do serious client work = Web Premium

Video bundle
If you do video work = Production Premium

Silly S.O.B bundle
If you're a sick stinking filthy rich slob = Master Collection

You were being sarcastic, right?

They have 6 different choices.

http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/compare/

6 choices of bundles - but there are 14 different apps. 6 is a lot easier to choose from than 14.

The only people that have a difficult time choosing are most likely the ones who really don't have a serious need for a bundle to begin with, IMO.

One thing is for certain. At least with the Adobe app bundles, you KNOW what you're getting with each bundle. With Windows, the average Joe user probably has no clue what the real differences are between Home, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate... Heck, I can't even figure out which version I should get - and I kind of know what my needs are for Windows.

Came to say this.