Thank the Mighty Corporate Gods that allowed Adobe and Macromedia – both Gods in their own rights – to come together in perfect (albeit until now, not so Macintel-friendly) harmony.

Our patience has finally paid off. We gave these two some time to play around behind closed doors (to the two or three of you that thought about naughty things – for SHAME.) and now the collective Company has brought forth upon us Designers a true Deity, one to call our own and worship. And we shall call it…CS3.

(Okay…wow…that was a bit melodramatic. I think I actually heard French horns in the background.)

It’s true though, what the Prophecy of the Internet has told has come true. Creative Suite 3 (or, the “Tré”, as I like to call it. [ED NOTE: This Institution reserves the right to keep 5 cents for any reprints of that, or any other subsidiary slang]) is truly a blessing.

First up, Photoshop CS3. Okay, so it’s CS2 like we’ve come to know and love but with a FEW innovative features. I personally can’t wait to see what a Photoshop animated creation would look like exported directly to SWF with that better-than-ever-before look of “Yeah, I do that now.” Other than that, I couldn’t really say how many new features there are to discover, but if it’s half as good as discovering the hidden gems of CS2 (because honestly, who knew?), I’m in.

Illustrator…yup. Still here. Added features: Check. Cool new look: Check. Full integration with Flash…mmmm….them’s sounds appealing. I’ve always been afraid to try taking a native AI and just dumping it into Flash. I just dropped one in there and boo-ya, layers, shapes, everything, perfect. Ahhhhhhh…now I can get on animating this letter-loving-lizard…

InDesign CS3? Slow clap. That’s for you, buddy. Awesome.

The best thing hands down is the integration. You get virtually the same interface elements across the whole Design platform. Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop. I mean…native PSDs in Dreamweaver? Not GoLive? (Because, honestly.) That alone makes me want to personally thank the man who brokered their corporate merger.

So Thank You, Adobe/Macromedia. (mAdobe? Macdobe? There’s just no cool name, so enjoy just being Adobe I guess.) We are already salivating for some bug fixes for this new baby of yours, so get to it! (Why the *blank* can’t I associate .indd files with InDesign??? I mean Vista just won’t let me! I’ve tried editing my Registry and everything! Stupid Vista!! Curse you and your inability to understand what the heck I’m trying to get you to do!)

To recap. Adobe: Good. Vista: COME OOONNNNNNNN!!!

(Seriously. If you know how to make it open my InDesign files in…gee why not INDESIGN…please start a comment thread! I’m talking to you, Shawn! Thanks!)