Programs of Old: Of Pixels & Vectors

My design past is laden with Adobe's legacy.

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I am in an age where computers have monopolized the commercial aspects of the design/art (?) world. It can't be helped these digital toolboxes have automated/streamlined/mass produced the design scene more to its benefit.
One of the most significant capabilities of today’s designers:
Undo / Redo
Ctrl (Cmd for Mac) + z

functions that made the creation process more industrial than ever, ever since man's use of the steam engine.
***

Last summer the software giant released Creative Suite 3. With it came the new Illustrator, now, 3 versions ahead from the one I've learned to love. Ai 10 was my first vector drawing program. It is where I developed my preference for vectors rather than pixels. I remember the days when I used Photoshop as a layout/image editing/drawing program; Adobe Photoshop was called 5.5 back then. With my introduction to Ai I began to start using it for almost all my designing needs expect for raster images of course.

I love Ai. But it was only recently that I discovered the joy of using FreeHand MX. The vector-using public was torn back then, polarized, some preferred Adobe some Macromedia. I remember one of my professors preferring it. But Ai was my first love, so I was reluctant to try and seek any replacement. Besides how can Freehand MX match Ai 10's start-up screen. "F" & "H" characters over Boticelli's Venus?

But soon enough, after leaving college, I realized Freehand MXs appeal to the artist. Its a layout/vector drawing program. But this discovery was insignificant in the light of Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia. Now Illustrator is left without a competitor.

InDesign has become very popular as well, a bunch of versions ahead from my first layout program Pagemaker 6.5

My only qualms: With Adobe's ownership of Freehand they have seem to split its strong points to Illustrator and InDesign. I liked Freehand's multiple-page capability and the Assets palette and I hoped it be carried on to the new suite. But it seems that Adobe is bent on creating distinctions between the programs. Besides, to think of it, this wouldn't a problem cause CS3 is more seamless with Adobe Bridge.

With Adobe's shift to Creative Suites, I still remained loyal to Ai 10 and Photoshop 7 all throughtout my college yrs. Though the product logos are a giant leap from before (more real-complex-like to simple-symbol-like) I never really liked them. Especially with CS2. I hate when I start-up Ilustrator CS2 and see that yellow lily/daisy flower thing and InDesign's Moth-Eye-Feather thing.

But with CS3 I must say, the logos are genius.

Now the product logos are simpler than ever: Square boxes with initials such as Ai, ID, Ps. Very table of elements-like. This scheme I can especially appreciate when I put them at Mac's dock.

I'm excited with CS3.

More innovations.
More thing to learn
&
Unlearn.