Photoshop CS3 beta includes a prerelease version of a major upgrade to Adobe Bridge, as well as a preview release of the all-new Adobe Device Central. Photoshop customers can use Adobe Device Central to design, preview, and test mobile content created specifically for smaller screens. The main purpose of this new tool, integrated in the Photoshop CS3 beta, is to simplify the creation of mobile content through a preview environment and built-in device profiles.

"This is an exciting time for the Mac, and Adobe wanted to ease the move to new Intel-based systems with a preview release of Photoshop CS3," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe, in a statement. "We didn't want to leave Windows customers out of the party, so the beta is available to everyone."

Beta Catch

There is a catch, however. Those who want to take Photoshop CS3 for a test run must provide a serial number from either Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe Creative Suite 2, Adobe Creative Suite Production Studio, Adobe Design Bundle, Adobe Web Bundle, or Adobe Video Bundle.

Without a serial number, users can still download Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta, with the product expiring after two days. Customers must register online with Adobe or have an existing Adobe.com membership account to access the software.

To run the new beta on either Mac or Windows, you must have at least 512 MB of RAM and a current processor. Photoshop CS3 beta will expire soon after the launch of Photoshop CS3 in Spring 2007. Details on final pricing, full system requirements and availability have yet to be determined.

Other News

In related previews of future technologies, Adobe has also released two new Web tools as beta releases. Adobe CSS Advisor is a new Web-based community site to identify and resolve browser compatibility issues.

Web designers and developers can contribute their own issues, comment on existing issues, or become an editor to participate in driving the site's future. The site is accessible at adobe.com/go/cssadvisor.

Also introduced is a beta release of Adobe Spry framework for Ajax, a designer-focused technology for adding the power of Ajax when developing rich, dynamic Web sites. Adobe Spry framework for Ajax also is available at adobe.com/go/cssadvisor.