Adobe Creative Suite 4

By Simon Strantzas, Product Specialist (procurement@loop.ca)

Late in September, Adobe announced Creative Suite 4.0, the latest in their line of design software packages aimed at almost anyone with a creative bent. Much like the previous version, there will be different flavours of CS4 depending on your needs -- from print to video -- but each will contain the same basics you know and love ... only upgraded.

As with any software manufacturer, to keep getting your money Adobe has to introduce new features into its software to hopefully make it appealing enough for you to upgrade, and CS4 is no exception. Look forward to seeing technologies such as a new tab-based interfaces to keep more than one item open at a time, and to keep palettes close at hand. You can also move objects across these tabs with a single click-and-drag.

The big key to CS4 is integration: Adobe knows that no one spends all his or her time in one app alone, so they have tried to tie them together to make your workflow seamlessly move between them. Their customers complained, and they listened.

Available this October, the suites are similar to what you may be used to:

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Standard
InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium
InDesign, Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Fireworks

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Standard
Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Fireworks, Contribute

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium
Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Fireworks, Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, Soundbooth, Acrobat, Contribute

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium
After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, Flash Professional, Soundbooth, OnLocation, Encore

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection
InDesign, Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Fireworks, Contribute, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, OnLocation, Encore

And, of course, there will be upgrades available for those users still using CS3. But that's not all! If you're a user who was late to the part of CS3, you're still in luck; for a limited time you too have the option of upgrading to CS4 from CS1 or CS2 for the same price as a CS3 user. Don't waste time, however, as this promotion is scheduled to end soon.

Contact your corporate account manager for more details or to order your copy today, or email us at sales@loop.ca.

Help… Anytime, Anywhere

By Mike Bevilacqua, Corporate Account Manager (mbevilacqua@loop.ca)

Imagine a scenario where you need technical support during a mission-critical situation. What would you normally do? Call your IT provider and start-out with phone support or request an on-site visit that is bound by technician availability and travel time to your location. Now imagine a different outcome; same mission-critical situation, however this time a technician connects to your system and starts diagnosing the problem within minutes of the call being placed.

Geography is not an issue, you can have offices all over the world and the immediacy of support is the same for Rome and Hong Kong as it is for Toronto. Users initiate the remote session via a web portal that allows you to know when your system is being accessed securely through your firewall. No need to worry about whether someone is accessing your system when they should not be. Furthermore, the session is logged for auditing purposes and a video file created that records the session.

Desktop support is crucial, however server support is more so. Servers tend to be robust, designed for maximum up time, however when they do go down getting them up and running is a high level priority. Utilizing remote services, Loop technicians can be alerted of an issue when or even prior to it occurring. But remote services are not limited to critical situations, many daily administrative tasks can be executed remotely as well, such as:
 

• User Privileges
• Account Setup / Administration
• RAID Monitoring / Storage
• Alerts of any issues via email to our Service team
• Basic Maintenance

Additionally, with remote services the following can be performed:
 

• Remote control of attended & unattended systems
• Multi-Platform support (Windows, Linux, Mac and Mobile)
• Diagnose instantly; Built-in chat and file transfer
• Request full access or application-specific control
• Reboot and re-establish a connection automatically

In today's internet-enabled world, Loop’s remote service is a premier vehicle for delivering high-quality secure service when & where it's needed without the wasted time of travel and onsite visits. Talk to your Loop Corporate Account Manager about our remotely managed services, or email sales@loop.ca for more information.