The Quark Trump: Free Intel Update This Summer

Back when Apple transitioned to OS X, Quark lost a portion of the desktop publishing market to Adobe because Adobe released an OS X native version of In Design. Many production houses, already unhappy with what they perceived to be poor customer service from Quark and seeing positive reviews of In Design in the computer press, took the opportunity to switch.

Now, the worm has turned. Adobe has made a well-documented decision not update its CS2 product lines and to release a Universal version only with CS3. That would not be until spring 2007. Quark has now used the Adobe dead-time to release an Intel version of Quark. Now, I doubt if there will be a mass exodus from those who have switched to In Design back to Quark; not only would they have to retrain their workforces and convert current projects but they would have to buy some Intel Macs. That’s not impossible but not very likely. Still, I’m hoping the Quark move will put a little fire under Adobe. It’s not likely that Adobe will reverse itself and release Intel updates for CS2, but the move will certainly put a little more pressure on Adobe to get CS3 out as soon as they can.