Should I buy Photoshop CS5 + LR3 now?

[SecondShot]

I've been racking my brain for awhile now about whether or not I should buy PS CS5 and LR3 Student Editions now or theorycraft and wait for the new CS6 and LR4 to come out.

I'm a student, so I have the opportunity to get PS CS5 extended for about $180 and LR3 for about $90. If I understand the Adobe restrictions, I can only buy one of each product, period (is that right? or is it per calendar year?). Normally, I'd be all over this and gladly pay for both.

However, I've noticed that Adobe's product cycles are between 1.5 and 2 years, and sometimes, there will be a .5 release somewhat shortly before the next version gets released. The somewhat recent flurry of sales on adobe products also leads me to believe they're trying to reduce their current stock in preparation for a new version. CS5 was released in April 2010, and the 18-month span would hit around October 2011, and 24-months would hit April 2012.

I have a tendency to over-analyze, but is it wise for me to pay student rates now and just get CS5 even though the product run is already at least past its mid-point, or try and wait for a new release, which from what I read in a Scott Kelby post awhile back (which I can't find anymore), will contain a myriad of changes and improvements based on crowd-sourced suggestions.

Tell me TPF, what should I do?

My current software consists of:
GIMP (which I don't use much, aside from fixing horizons, cropping, clone/heal)
Oloneo PhotoEngine Beta (which I generally use for my 'normal edits' but runs out in 6 more days)
DPP (which i've used once or twice...)

[I crossposted this in POTN as well, as I'd like as many opinions, insights, flames as possible]

 

[KmH]

Both CS5's Camera Raw, and Lightroom 3 use the same edit rendering engine - ACR 6.

Unless you plan on shooting A LOT of photos, like 1000 or more week-in-week-out, you don't need Lightroom 3's main function, Digital Asset Management (DAM).

Photoshop has never had a .5 release.

I never recommend waiting for the new version. CS5 was a big step up from CS4. CS6 is likely to be a smaller step, and there are some indications the Photoshop release cycle is getting longer..

 

[spacefuzz]

Id say definitely buy CS5, I really enjoy it. And I know people who still use CS2 so no reason to wait.
I really like lightroom vs bridge because it lets me organize my library a lot more coherently and search across folders. I also enjoy the in program editing. I didnt start out needing lightroom but as my library expanded to 50,000 + RAW images it just became a necessity and reduced headaches. Download the trial and see if it fits into your workflow before deciding.