Adobe released details about Creative Suite 4, its first update to more than a dozen design and editing tools since Adobe CS3 some 17 months ago. The costs of the applications, set to reach consumers in October, haven't changed since CS3, but remain hefty. Should long-time users upgrade?

With CS4, Adobe aimed to unify the interfaces of more than a dozen applications, including Flash and other former properties of Macromedia. You'll see similar pull down menus for toggling among workspaces that you can customize, as well as Flash-based panels that nicely snap open and shut. Corporate design departments will find plenty of enhancements for their teams to share work more quickly.

Adobe continues to improve integration among the applications. After Effects, as only one example, can import Photoshop 3D layers and export content directly into Flash.

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