Adobe-Creative-Cloud-LogoThere are all new Adobe Creative Cloud desktop applications rolling out now and they should be available to all subscribers within 24 hours. Before installing anything, however, please take a moment or two to read this post. It might help you avoid some frustration.

New install routine uninstalls prior versions

When Adobe released the new versions of their Creative Cloud desktop apps in June 2014, it caused some confusion for its users who didn’t understand why they had more than one version of each application. Taking that confusion seriously, Adobe has made a change to the installation process for the CC2015 versions.

By default, any earlier Creative Cloud version of CC2015 application that you choose to install will be uninstalled (note that Creative Suite versions are not affected). Based on the number of complaints from last year, this will be a welcome change for many, but not all, users. I for one use plugins that aren’t updated yet for use in InDesign CC2015 so I need to keep CC2014 handy. The good news is that Adobe hasn’t forgotten us and will provide the option to keep the old versions installed.

Update: InDesign CC2015 will only support the new Adobe Digital Publishing Solution product. You must leave CC2014 in place if you want to continue publishing with the old system.

The bad news is, providing the option to keep prior versions and making it obvious that we can, are two different things. For many users, reading installation screens with is not exactly a priority  so it will probably be very easy to dismiss the alert. Be sure to read the install screens carefully and choose “Advanced Options.” With the advanced options available uncheck “Remove old versions.”

While I understand the logic behind the decision, I don’t think it’s a particularly good idea. I’d much rather see a prompt for a choice between keep and uninstall with an advanced option to pick and choose by application. Whether you agree with this or not, consider yourselves warned.

System requirements

Earlier this year Adobe announced that their next major release of Creative Cloud desktop apps would require OSX 10.9 (Mavericks) or later. If you didn’t see it then and you’re still running 10.8 or earlier, you will not see the new versions in the CC Desktop app. (I’ll take a moment to issue my standard warning. In place operating system upgrades are a crapshoot. Don’t install Yosemite on a whim. Do a clean install and get it right)

There are no changes to the Windows requirements. If you meet the requirements for CC2014 (Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.x) you’re good to go. On a side note, I’ve been testing Windows 10 with CC2014 and everything seems to be running fine.

So, there you have it. Will you be keeping the old versions around for a while?