Thanks for all the helpful replies. By the way, just to be clear, I’m now using Windows XP Pro 32 bit and considering adding/switching to Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.
It seems fairly clear that I can upgrade to CS4 from CS. In addition the answers given above, I found this product description for the CS4 upgrade on the Amazon web site: "Licensed owners of Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS2, or Photoshop CS can upgrade to Adobe Photoshop CS4 for special pricing."
I also confirmed that my printers are Windows 7 64 bit compatible. Maybe my scanners will work with that OS also, but I’m not optimistic. I now know that Windows 7 includes Windows XP mode, but read that it may not work for 32 bit device drivers (see the second link below), such as drivers for my Minolta 5400 scanner. Of course, I can try it. If it doesn’t work, I don’t see why I can’t also install Windows XP Pro on a second hard drive and boot from it when I want to scan. Does anyone see a problem with that solution?
By the way, here are a couple of links explaining Windows Virtual PC:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/support/faq.aspxhttp://www.techsupportalert.com/content/ho...pplications.htm Les and Mark, also see the last question and answer on the Microsoft site linked above. It states “Does Windows Virtual PC support 64-bit Windows XP as a guest operating system? No. Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode was designed to help small business with application compatibility from Windows XP to Windows 7. The majority of business applications currently run on 32-bit versions of Windows XP.”
I read that CS4 automatically installs a 32 bit and a 64 bit version. In addition to having CS4 installed on my Windows 7 hard drive, would it work to also install a second copy of CS4 (32 bit) or my old copy of CS on my second, Windows XP hard drive? I expect that I’d use such second copy of CS4 or CS almost exclusively when scanning, but do all my editing under CS4 64 bit.