Why upgrade from CS to CS4?

We have been advised to upgrade from CS to CS4 before the upgrade path closes, however this will also entail upgrading 3 x G4's in our design studio as these won't run CS4 properly. By upgrading to Mac Pro's there will also be additional software updates we need to purchase, which in turn means we will have to update on other Macs on network. All in all an expensive business. As such I would be really grateful for some feedback as to benefits of CS4 or should we just continue with existing Suite until we find we are lagging behind and then bite the bullet and be prepared to spend out even more for full CS (we will probably be on CS5 by then)? Am i just delaying the inevitable?

As previously mentioned, this question is really off topic for this forum but here are some thoughts anyway:
laksdjf wrote:
or should we just continue with existing Suite until we find we are lagging behind and then bite the bullet and be prepared to spend out even more for full CS (we will probably be on CS5 by then)? Am i just delaying the inevitable?
Sounds like you've already hit the "lagging behind" point, hence your question.
The real question here seems to be what decision(s) to make for the future of the business rather than weighing up, in isolation, whether CS4 justifies a hardware upgrade.
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Do you have an ongoing hardware/software upgrade policy at your studio? or do you tend to wait until hardware dies before you upgrade?
If you're really facing the expensive upgrade chain of events that you describe then I'm inclined to suggest that you're reaching an inevitable "catch up" point where you're faced with investing a large amount at one time rather than spreading your upgrade cost (and tax write offs) over time.
If you're running dated gear and software, have you thought about doing a cost benefit analysis of what you might gain in speed and productivity by progressively rolling out staggered upgrades over time? The speed of faster rigs and productivity gains of updated software with integrated features can often outweigh the perceived savings of not investing in upgrades for a long period then having to upgrade everything at once.
How long does it take you to get projects out the door now and what might the difference be with an upgrade policy in place with allocated annual budgets for upgrades? What are your competitors running?
In short, I see this as more a "bigger picture" business decision for the future of your studio than a simple technical one based on the merits of CS4.

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sdfsdf e3wwre4
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