A beta version of Photoshop CS3 will be available to download from later today. Adobe hopes that offering a free, widely available beta will enable customers to more easily transition to the latest hardware platforms, particularly Apple?s new Intel-based systems.

The beta is available from http://labs.adobe.com as a Universal Binary for Macs, as well as for Windows XP and Vista PCs. Anyone can download CS3 for two days use, but those who own as existing Adobe program including Photoshop CS2, Creative Suite 2, Creative Suite Production Studio, Adobe Design Bundle, Adobe Web Bundle or Adobe Video Bundle, will be able to run the beta until the full release set for spring 2007. Customers must register online with Adobe or have an existing Adobe.com membership account to access the software.

Described by Adobe as being ?packed with new features?, CS3 beta also includes a pre-release version of a major upgrade to Adobe Bridge, as well as a preview release of the all-new Adobe Device Central. Device Central can be used to design, preview, and test mobile content created specifically for smaller screens. The new tool, integrated in the Photoshop CS3 beta, promises to ?simplify and accelerate? 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. ?We didn?t want to leave Windows customers out of the party, so the beta is available to everyone in the creative industry’s most passionate user community-no matter what their platform choice. We still have some surprises in store, but this beta gives customers an early chance to see the power of another great Photoshop release, optimised and tuned to run natively on the latest hardware and operating systems.?

Adobe has also released two new web tools as beta releases. Adobe CSS Advisor is a new web-based community site to easily 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: www.adobe.com/go/cssadvisor. Also introduced is a beta release of Adobe Spry framework for Ajax, a designer-focused solution for adding the interactive power of Ajax when developing rich, dynamic websites. Adobe Spry framework for Ajax is available at: www.adobe.com/go/cssadvisor.

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