Order for installation?

[SaltyRavenStudio]

Unsure of what order to tackle this installation issue: husband and I have an older iMac with CS4 Creative Suite Design Standard installed on it. (He was a student when we installed it originally so we qualified for the student version, but I have read that we retain upgrade rights to a commercial version even now when he is no longer a student). We purchased the upgrade to CS5.5 recently enough that we qualify for the free upgrade to CS6, but we also bought a new MacBook Pro this weekend. Since we don't get the free upgrade to CS6 for 10 days, I want to go ahead and install CS5.5 on the MacBook Pro now because it has nothing on it. Do I need to install CS4 on the laptop first or can the upgrades run independently when you install them on a fresh machine? And will there be an issue trying to install CS6 on both a laptop and a desktop? Only one computer will be using the software at a time. Also, we own Lightroom 4, but since we have the new Canon Mark III camera, we need to use the beta 4.1 or 4.2 versions of Lightroom. Can they be installed on their own or do I have to first install the original CS4 version?

[SaltyRavenStudio]

Oops- I meant Lightroom 4, not CS4, in that last sentence and am unable to edit the question from my mobile device.

[Jeff A Wright]

When you install Creative Suite 5.5 you will be asked to enter your qualifying serial number.  At that time you will want to enter your Creative Suite 4 serial number.

[SaltyRavenStudio]

Thanks, Jeff. And is the Creative Suite 5.5 version in the box the latest version of 5.5 or will I need to go to Adobe.com to download the current version that supports my new camera anyway so that I should bypass the version in the box? Also, will it be a problem to download them on two computers (a desktop and a laptop)?

[Jeff A Wright]

There are updates available for many of the CS5.5 products.  Beyond that I would recommend posting your inquiries to the forum specific for that product.

[SaltyRavenStudio]

Also, regarding my Lightroom installation, I went to Adobe.com and downloaded the 4.1 RC 2 version (because the current Lightroom 4 that I own on my on my desktop does not support my new camera, the Canon Mark III) onto my brand new laptop, and no serial numbers were ever requested! What does this mean? Are release candidate versions the real thing? Why would they be available for downloading without proof of purchase? Will any work I do using the release candidate be saved once the next version is official? I am trying to avoid a million copies of the program cluttering my drive and creating communication issues.

[SaltyRavenStudio]

The only thing I can think of is that I am logged on to Adobe.com currently and since I purchased Lightroom through Adobe.com originally, it knew who I was even though I arrived at the download page via an external link?

[Jeff A Wright]

I am sorry SaltyRavenStudio are you still discussing trying to get a Camera Raw update or are you trying to download Lightroom 4?  I am a bit confused what you are asking for at the moment.  If you do have questions about Camera RAW and Lightroom you would want to post those inquiries into the Photoshop Lightroom forum - http://forums.adobe.com/community/lightroom.

[geoffcbassett]

SaltyRavenStudio wrote:

...no serial numbers were ever requested! What does this mean? Are release candidate versions the real thing? Why would they be available for downloading without proof of purchase? Will any work I do using the release candidate be saved once the next version is official? I am trying to avoid a million copies of the program cluttering my drive and creating communication issues.

Beta's are free to the public for a specific time in my experience. Once you get the official upgrade, all your edits will carry over without a problem.