I dont see how that article makes any case for this being a mistake...
Adobe specifically said didn't mean for everyone in the world to download it. They tried to help out existing cs2 customers because they shut off the activation servers
A corporation like Adobe never does anything to "help out customers."
Adobe took their money 7 years ago...and the bottom line on maintaining these increasingly obsolete activation servers was too high.
They have essentially become a nuisance. So - They probably want to decrease legacy maintenance/support costs - with the side effect of some free advertising.
Just a guess - but back in 2005 Apple/Mac may accounted for a lot of the CS2 users - particularly folks who used it professionally.
But, since Apple herds it's users to newer products. That CS2 demographic has probably decreased more quickly.
And Adobe knew people running new Macs wouldn't bother/benefit since apparently its not compatible with the more recent versions of OSX.
With XP facing a 2014 expiration date - Adobe may have seen a year window to advertise their products to a whole bunch of people who will be looking for new computers once Microsoft shuts off their XP update servers.
I think giving away CS2 isnt much of a big deal. GoLive? I kind of remember using that tool once upon a time. But Im sure few are seeking it out.
The media editors are a nice giveaway. Even if there is just one or two features in Audition, it's worth having.
I downloaded the two Photoshop products and Premier Pro 2.0.
I'll probably never use Photoshop - because I have other editors for XP that I prefer.
But sometimes these are worth installing just for the extra fonts.
I also have a malfunctioned Mac G4 and fresh OSX 10.4 DVD - and I'd like to revive that machine...some of this software would be perfect.