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iREZ · Oct 8, 2004, 11:15 AM

[list=1][*]8[*]9[*]10[*]CS (11)[*]or do you just use freehand (or other vector based software) instead?[/list=1]

I recently started using CS but before that I only used 8 unless I needed to open a file in 10. No hiccups yet with CS but things have changed in a few areas.

***I'd post a poll but dont really know how***

almaink · Oct 8, 2004, 01:11 PM

I use all of them and on occasion even v6. In prepress you never know what you are going to get anymore.

iREZ · Oct 8, 2004, 01:47 PM

I guess I forgot to add, which version do you find the most stable and do you use the most when you have a choice. I too am in prepress and I too use all versions, but still find 8 the most stable but 10 and CS ain't to shabby.

mitchell_pgh · Oct 8, 2004, 02:12 PM

I've used everything from 5 to CS... I really have never had any major issues with Illustrator. The trick is, hold out for at least 6-10 months before even considering upgrading.

TALK TO YOUR PRINTERS...

eyevaan · Oct 8, 2004, 04:10 PM

CS has a small "Convert" problem that makes the file occasionally unusable by the lower versions.
10 is dual OS native [I don't even understand how that works] which makes it very nice but unfortunately
9 is the last real "stable" version... but that is just MHO.

good luck

drive-thru · Oct 8, 2004, 04:15 PM

10, it's all I have, apart from 8 or 9 on the lab computers.

There are some stability problems sometimes, but none recently (fingers crossed).

kaboom · Oct 8, 2004, 05:08 PM

Our company just completely skipped Ill. 9. (Thank god!)
I've found Ill. 8 to be the quickest and most stable version, but 10 and CS are not bad.
We avoid CS at the moment simply because of all the conversion issues (since most of our files are 10 or below) but when we get CS files in from designers it's not a big deal.

siMac · Oct 8, 2004, 05:41 PM

Originally posted by eyevaan:
CS has a small "Convert" problem

No it doesn't. RTFM. If you're referring to the outlining of text when backsaving to older formats, this is not a problem or a bug - this is a necessary measure to allow us the spanking gorgeous new type system we have in CS. Sometimes things change so much (for the better) that it is impossible to maintain full backwards compatibility.

Originally posted by eyevaan:
9 is the last real "stable" version...

I never though I'd hear anyone say that! You have used 9 right? Of all the things it was (innovative, powerful, flexible), stable it most certainly was not.

siMac · Oct 8, 2004, 05:44 PM

Oh, and to answer the original question, CS all the way.

I've used every version of Illustrator since 6 in a production environment and CS is the runaway winner. Second place goes to 10, and third goes to 8, which was rock solid. 9 was technologically advanced at the time, but flaky/buggy as hell, including some serious problems that should never have made it out the door.

�0.02

KeriVit · Oct 8, 2004, 08:33 PM

When CS wasn't out- I would stick with 8 and 10- unless transparency was involved- then just 10. 9 was garbage. CS is nice- but still not comfortable with it yet. I think we are all supporting what we are most comfortable with.

mitchell_pgh · Oct 10, 2004, 10:51 AM

I will still say, I slightly miss the

Quark 4
Photoshop 5
Illustrator 8

powerhouse...

Sure we were running on an outdated OS on slower hardware... and we would deal with the occasional crash if you had more then four programs running... but I had my system so clean and organized, I could rip through design like no other.

OS X, while vastly superior to OS 8/9, has somehow added another layer that is between me and my design. Don't get me wrong, I'm still loving it, but back in those days I really felt like the OS was almost transparent. Perhaps it was the responsiveness of having a gig of ram and only running three applications... and basically having nothing else on the OS.

Macola · Oct 10, 2004, 03:36 PM

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I will still say, I slightly miss the

Quark 4
Photoshop 5
Illustrator 8

powerhouse...

That was my config for many years as well...the main reason I kept an OS 9-bootable Mac. This summer, I finally switched to all the CS apps (including InDesign) and agree that it's not quite the same feeling. Pretty close, though. I do like the vastly improved PDF capabilities (no more Distiller!), which makes up for any shortcomings that the CS apps may have.

Thorzdad · Oct 12, 2004, 12:05 PM

For me, Illustrator-8 was the last truly "rock-solid" version. The versions following that all had the feel of a sloppily-ported Windows app...even though I know they weren't. There was this unquantifiable change in the feel of the app after v8.

Currently, I use 8 and 9 at the office and CS at home. Working around the type engine incompatiblilities between CS and the others has been somewhat a pain. Frankly, in daily usage, I can't see the big deal about the new type engine in CS. But, that's just me.

JMII · Oct 12, 2004, 12:27 PM

In the pre-press work I use Ver 9.0 the most but I think ver 8.0 was best

CS seems to have problems with older versions both in saving and opening them

What is next version going to be called? CS 2.0

- John

York911 · Oct 12, 2004, 12:38 PM

I personally find Illustrator CS often unexpctedly quitting during routine functions like exporting files as .EPS.

Check out the Adobe support forums. There's some unhappy campers over there wondering why illustrator CS hasn't had a badly needed update. It's not Illustrator 9, but it definitely has it's share of issues that need to be addressed.

Oh, my vote is for 8.

eyevaan · Oct 13, 2004, 09:25 AM

so just for clarity...

no one using Ill CS is having any trouble converting forward to work on the file and then exporting back to the legacy versions?

My printers are not all up with the program so I am stuck with retro saving everything, hence my unwillingness to give over to CS exclusively. Very recently ran into series of issues where Ill9 files would not cooperate until it was opened in Ill9... perhaps the exception and not the rule? [oh that might be the instability everyone is talking about - -

]

Ill9 was stable for me, not as stable as Ill8 but I make it a point to keep no more than 5 legacy apps on my computer at any one time. Q3, Q4, Q5, Ill9, Ill10 ... complete and utter nonsense, why did I ever leave the comfort of proprietary Scitex Superstations...

HA! - I would never give up PShop to go back there.

Thorzdad · Oct 13, 2004, 07:24 PM

Originally posted by eyevaan:
so just for clarity...

no one using Ill CS is having any trouble converting forward to work on the file and then exporting back to the legacy versions?...

eyevaan...I deal with the forward-backward legacy file text thing on a weekly basis. I've actually installed Ill-9 in Classic to do some of the more critical or text-heavy work.

eyevaan · Oct 14, 2004, 07:50 AM

thank you for your candor... It is reassuring to know that I am not the only one is stuck with that workflow... cuz it suxx.

I do like CS a bunch - the entire Suite is very nice.

Thorzdad · Oct 14, 2004, 01:34 PM

CS is okay. I don't find it all that big of an improvement, frankly, over what i've been using. Lots of bells-and-whistles that I don't need. But, it's OSX-native and it's what I need to use.

If you want to read other comments concerning the new text engine, head over to the Adobe user forums. There's a 200+ post thread in the Illustrator/Mac forum on the text engine.