InDesign on NT with 2000 compatibility

[Alison_Tartt@adobeforums.com]

We are two freelancers who work together on numerous projects. We're considering buying InDesign. One of us is a designer running 2000 who needs the Pagemaker version of InDesign in order to convert old PM docs to InDesign as well as create new ones. The other is a writer/editor running NT 4.0 who needs to be able to open the designer's InDesign docs and add text, make corrections, apply various styles, etc., then send the file back to the designer.

Will we be able to buy two separate products--InDesign CS (the editor) and InDesign Pagemaker (the designer)--and have full compatibility in exchanging our files? We intend to download the trial version and perform some tests, but any warnings about potential problems would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Alison

[Bob_Levine]

The PM edition simply contains plugins to add some of PM's functionality
to InDesign.

You don't need them but they are nice to have. Your friend will need to
upgrade his/her machine. InDesign CS will not run on WinNT. It requires
Win2K or WinXP. And it requires a lot more horsepower as far as RAM and
harddrive space, as well.

I'd recommend downloading the demo and seeing how well it performs. The
demo doesn't include the PM plugins, but that's okay since it will give
you an idea of whether you want to pay the extra $49.00. If you're fan
of the build booklet plugin in PM, you'll want to spend that money.

One other note. You mentioned that you need the PM plugins to create new
docs. InDesign does not create PM files and it will open PM 6.5 and 7.0
files even without the plugins. The plugins add PM 6.0 to that list.

Bob

[Greg_Gaspard@adobeforums.com]

Do note that the plugins do not save in Pagemaker format.