Photoshop CS2 RIP?

[Frans Waterlander]

Yes, I know! CS2 is "ancient" but till yesterday it did everything I needed it to do. Then some tools disappeared magically. Uninstall and reinstall, right? Wrong! For years Adobe made CS2 available for free with a serial number needed to install and it worked just fine till yesterday, when the serial number was no longer recognized. Couldn't find anything online about this. So, took a deep breath and ordered PSE from Best Buy. I'm not going to pay $20 and after one year $30 each month for PS CC.
 Back on the learning curve to learn how PSE is different from PS. Ouch! 

[KeithR]

The photographers bundle(PS & LR CC) monthly subscription from Adobe is $9.95(USD) if I recall.

[digitaldog]

The photographers bundle(PS & LR CC) monthly subscription from Adobe is $9.95(USD) if I recall.

And it will do far more than CS2 which is ancient (released in 2005) and can run on a modern OS. And do far more than CS2. Screaming deal for anyone who uses modern tools seriously.
Tools 'magically disappearing' ?? 
And in terms of support for modern Operating Systems, this from Adobe too:

Adobe has issued a notice future releases of Creative Cloud programs will no longer support older versions of MacOS and Windows operating systems.

'As we prepare for our next major release of Creative Cloud, we wanted to share some information on updated operating system requirements,' says Adobe. 'To take advantage of the latest operating system features and technologies, the next major release of Creative Cloud will not support Windows 8.1, Windows 10 v1511 and v1607, and Mac OS 10.11 (El Capitan).'


Adobe ONLY made CS2 available for free for legitimate licensed owners. It's absolutely not free for any and everyone! 
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2277492

[digitaldog]

https://www.cnet.com/news/adobe-releases-creative-suite-2-for-free/

CORRECTION, 2:40 p.m. PT:There has been clarification since this story broke. Adobe has not officially released the CS2 software for free. Instead, it has canceled its CS2 license management servers because of a technical glitch, so for those with existing licenses it is now offering downloads that do not require contact with the licensing servers. While Adobe admits this may be seen as it giving its software away for free, this service is intended for those with existing Adobe CS2 licenses.

[Rhossydd]

Have a look at Affinity Photo. A really top performing photo editor, cheaper than elements and free of any subscription costs.
A really excellent set of tutorial videos to get you started on Vimeo too.

[digitaldog]

Have a look at Affinity Photo. A really top performing photo editor, cheaper than elements and free of any subscription costs.
A really excellent set of tutorial videos to get you started on Vimeo too.

+1, very impressive and that it can deal with Layers from existing PSD's is mightily impressive. Yet still a learning curve for Photoshop users of which it appears we are dealing with here by omission (ouch). But a great deal and a very good produce and exit strategy for Adobe users who don't mind learning a new product.