October 18, 2000
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So Photoshop 6.0 finally shipped. How can I tell? I came home to a FedEx box stuffed to the brim with yummy digital upgrade goodness. Never mind the context-sensitive options bar and the text warping effects, just the fact that I will finally be able to create polygonal image maps without resorting to yet another application is almost worth the upgrade price alone.
That’s the good news. Now here’s the rant.Has anyone else being banging their head against their monitor during the convoluted upgrade installation process? This has been the most frustratingly complex and time-consuming upgrade for any Adobe product I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. If you’re upgrading, the installer asks you to insert a CD containing a previous full version of the software. This isn’t so bad, in fact it makes sense for Adobe to want to take extra caution in assuring that a valid user is installing the product. The problem is that since you’re installing from a CD, and the installer which is running off that CD is requesting that you eject that CD and insert another CD… well, remember what it was like installing PageMaker 2.0 on that Mac Plus with a single floppy drive? I like reminiscing about simpler times, but this ain’t it.After a half dozen “Please insert…” messages and a juggling routine that would put the Flying Karamazov Brothers to shame, the installer reads some chunk of data on the full version disc, waves its little white flag, and then proceeds to ask you to enter a valid serial number. This is actually the second time I have had to enter a serial number, because one is required before you can even place your order for the upgrade on the Adobe site. The serial number is entered, installation begins to take place, and then the Adobe software registration module asks me for a serial number again. You would think that if the installer needed the serial number to start the installation process, it could maybe keep track of it for the three and a half minutes it takes to suck all of the components off the disc, and then be kind enough to pass it along to the next step. Fortunately, by this point I had serial number memorized, so a typed it in and clicked the final button.I won’t dwell on it, but I’m pretty sure that I have been able to back up, reformat, and reinstall an entire Mac OS system in less time than it took me to get Photoshop 6.0 on my drive. Enough of this nonsense… now it’s time to start playing.
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