there is a chance this may turn awesome

as of late, all their programs have been bloatware.

so maybe now that they are together they can incorporate each other's greatest hits.


delete go live for dreamweaver
delete freehand for illustrator
delete imageready for fireworks

perhaps one plugin that will have pdf/flash/shockwave together instead of seperate?

that's the excuse they give to employees, but in the end they'll kill some products and layouff MACR's R&D for those prods...

that's sad but that's the reality...

I wish I were as optimist as you are Athens...

I think freehand is more powerfull than illustrator, and it makes me sad that the 'fight' between the two has come to an end (and freehand lost, with a kick in the balls).

A year from now I will be bumping this thread from the pits to gloat how right I was

I hope you do that!, that would be great news for us users...

freehand was never in the fight regardless of how good it was. i actually don't even like illustrator but you gotta use the program thats most compatible with peeps you work with and printers. (illustrator does do the job more or less)

Wow its already been 6 years since Adobe bought GoLive Cyberstudio. I remmeber that as if it was yesterday.

I love Adobe, but this isn't good.

Maybe Apple will buy Adobe next LOL

That really wouldn't be good.

I like them separate.

Having said that, I would rather Apple get them than MS.

There is hope. Ten years (or so) ago when Adobe bought Aldus Corp., they weren't allowed to aquire FreeHand. It was subsequently sold to Macromedia.

The same antitrust issues are at play here. The question is if the Bush Administration's FTC sees competitiveness as a worthy goal for regulating aquisitions. Given their lassaiz-faire attitudes towards corporate behavior (except when it embarrasses them), there is reason for pessimism. On the other hand, it seems like they wouldn't be doing their jobs, I think, if they didn't consider history in this case.

I second that!!

Look on the bright side... maybe Flash will finally get a good interface now!

This royally sucks.

Mergers and acquisitions bring those we care about closer together, or tear us apart. Let us hope that the latter does not prevail in this situation.

[/sugar_coated with a tad-bit of wdlove thrown in]

If Apple had the ability to do so, acquiring Adobe would be the greatest boost to the platform ever seen. Apple would, in a single stroke, make the Mac the de facto standard for creative professionals. If only that were to come to pass, Apple would have the opportunity to make significant inroads in market share.

I guess more activation codes are on the way, eh?

let me be the first to say that I can not wait to see what mutant offspring result from this merger and am looking forward to introducing them into my workflow. I can only imagine the quality of the mac ports now..

What was the difference (to a printer) between an Illustrator EPS and a Freehand EPS? Answer: none. That's why I chose Freehand. So did most of the ADVANCED designers!

I would find it hilarious if Apple purchased Adobe now.

I feel the #1 reason Adobe did it is because it hasn't broken in to the "server" market. The web publishing systems are really catching on for Macromedia. And Adobe doesn't have anything in that area other than GoLive.