[orsadude2]

Are there major differences in software types/versions.

I want to buy Adobe Creative Suite Premium. I see several choices of the same thing. Each with its own hefty price tag:

1. Creative Suite Premium, $1189
2. Creative Suite Standard, $964
3. Upgrade $549

This I can understand, I think...but then there's this...
1. Academic version, $377....

I can get the student prices but I don't want a stripped out version. I want the real deal, full up version because I don't own any of the programs!

Ebay isn't helping because they advertise full version, not the academic version, which leads me to believe Academic is not all that it's cracked up to be. However, the Student discount places tout that CS Premium is a full version. Who's right?

Can someone "school" me?

[wataru]

Academic versions are almost never crippled (that I know of, anyway). In some instances they're even better (as in Office 2004; the academic version has a more permissive license). But you're only eligible to get the academic version if you're actually in academia.

[OptimusG4]

Not to mention you arent supposed to use Academic software for commercial use.

[SupahCoolX]

Just another note: Standard + Acrobat Professional + GoLive = Premium.

[mitchell_pgh]

I have the Education CS and it's the full version.

I'm not positive, but I think that you can't upgrade and educational version (not that you would really want to, but I believe in the past the pricing structure was a little different)

[arekkusu]

It is the full version. The only difference is the serial number. Some older versions (Illustrator 8 for example) would display "Educational version" in the splash screen if the serial number was an education one, but I don't think they do that any more.

It's very possible that they don't allow upgrades from edu serial numbers, but you'd have to check the current policy on that.