The new version of Director is available for pre-order. A few years ago I’d have been ever-so-slightly excited at the prospect of a new version of what was once my favourite application, but really, who the hell in their right mind would burn $1,000 on this pointless application?

The CD-Rom is dead, the Shockwave plug-in is redundant, and, unbelievably, there’s still no Intel Mac version available.

Oh well… it was good while it lasted.

Adobe’s “What is in the box” package arrived today. Unsurprisingly, it was… a box!

After fighting with the excessive (but undeniably appealing) packaging to get to the CD-Rom, I popped it into my 24″ iMac, then attempted to launch the software. My first attempt was greeted with:

C’mon Adobe, it really can’t be that hard to send me a CD-Rom that actually works, surely, especially when it’s only a simple video?

Anyway, after a few more attempts the software did successfully run, and yes, it was pleasing enough, albeit nowhere near as pleasing as a trial of the new version of Creative Suite would have been. Adobe, please, send biscuits or cakes next time, maybe an Indian headdress or a photograph of a baboon: something a bit more exciting that won’t disappoint.

Pop your shades on and check out the screengrabs of the video below:

Include Digital, in collaboration with design agency Mook, have recently completed work on a CD-Rom for The Sunday Times.

Distributed with the newspaper on Sunday 19th November, Parent Power is the definitive guide to UK schools in the both the state and independent sectors. More than 2,250 of the top schools are profiled and ranked according to their latest exam performance. The CD-Rom is fully searchable via a wide range of criteria, allowing users to find details on the best schools in their chosen area.

Click the images below to view larger screenshots of the CD-Rom: