CS3 upgrade to CS6.

Question

I've been using CS3 for years and would like to upgrade to CS6. Can't find it on this very difficult to navigate site anywhere.
If the only option is the monthly cloud, I will not be using Adobe software anymore.
I have no idea where this topic is going to land, what a difficult forum.

Answer 1

Bobby Minnich wrote:
Is there a comparison somewhere between CS3 and CS6?
How much is the cloud stuff different than CS3? Entire new learning curve?
I think the most important differences between CS3 and CS6 are the introduction of Live View and significant improvements to support for PHP (but only for hand-coding, not for using server behaviors). Live View renders the page as you would see it in a standards-compliant browser, using an embedded WebKit rendering engine. However, CS6 was released three years ago, so that version of WebKit is now out of date.
If you look at the What's New in CS6 PDF that Nancy linked to, Fluid Grid Layouts, Multiscreen Preview, and PhoneGap integration would not justify upgrading from your current version. Fluid Grid Layouts were a good idea, but poorly implemented. Some improvements were made after CS6, but I couldn't honestly recommend their use. As for Multiscreen Preview and PhoneGap integration, they have both been removed from Dreamweaver CC. Multiscreen Preview is OK, but not a must-have. The PhoneGap integration was very flaky. It worked for a while, but changes to PhoneGap rendered it useless.
Dreamweaver CC looks very familiar. It is, after all, still an HTML/CSS editor with strong support for JavaScript and PHP. However, the workflow has changed considerably. Live View is kept up to date, and you can now edit directly in Live View. The other big change is the introduction of the CSS Designer panel with support for media queries. Some people love the CSS Designer, others don't. I imagine that switching from CS3 to CC 2014.1 would be a jolt to the system, but as long as you have solid HTML/CSS skills, you should get used to it fairly quickly.
The main point about the subscription system is that it gives you updates to the program roughly three times a year. You're not forced to update until you're ready, and you can always switch back to a previous version if it suits your workflow better. Most people are used to paying monthly for mobile phone, and the cost of the CC subscription is similar or less. The downside is that if you stop paying, the program stops working, so it is a long-term commitment that needs to be carefully considered.
I taught a postgraduate web media course at university last year using both Dreamweaver CC and Brackets. Most students preferred Dreamweaver, but two or three of them opted for Brackets, and loved it. Brackets is a free HTML/CSS/JavaScript editor created by Adobe. If you're happy hand-coding, it might be worth considering as an alternative.