[Guide] How to legally download Adobe Creative Suite 2 for free

Each year Adobe continues to improve its Creative Suite and all its encompassing products, and anyone who has purchased either the Suite or any of Adobe's products will know how costly they can be. However it looks like Adobe has grown tired of maintaining some of its older software and has released the Creative Suite 2 for free on Windows and Mac platforms.

The Adobe Creative Suite was released back in April 2005 and includes, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Version Cue and Adobe Bridge. It also includes Adobe Acrobat Professional Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe GoLive. The above mentioned apps can also be downloaded seperately if you do not wish to download the entire suite.

Despite being a much older version of the Suite, we feel this is a smart move by Adobe, as it will keep users from download their apps from illegal sources. It also gives users an opportunity to taste Adobe products and keep from differing to free alternatives like Gimp. Adobe must also hope that using Adobe CS2 products will make users consider upgrading to the newer Adobe apps down the line.

The only real downside – aside from the prerequisite of an Adobe account – is the fact that the Mac version was designed for PowerPC devices, hence you will need OS X 10.2.8–10.3.8, or Rosetta, in order to get things up and running. To take advantage of this offer, please follow our guide below.

1. Head over to Adobe's CS2 download page
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2. Sign up and create a new Adobe ID, or login to your account if you already have one
• If you are signing up as a new user, fill in the required fields after which you will be sent a verification email. Once the email has been verified you will be taken to the download page.
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3. Once you have logged in you will be taken to the download page where you can download the entire Creative Suite for Windows or Mac (which spans 3 DVDs) or download the individual apps like Photoshop CS2.
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4. Adobe will include a serial number next to each download which you will have to copy and save for later use.

Once you have downloaded and installed your app you can include the serial number when required and enjoy your Adobe product for free.

Hopefully, this sets a precedent, meaning CS3 will soon become free as Adobe weighs up the costs of keeping activation servers running in relation to how many people would legitimately buy a decade-old software.