Rosetta

I didn't need Rosetta to run Photoshop CS2 on my 10.4 macbook but now I need it for my 10.6 Macbook.

Is this because Photoshop CS2 is AMD based? Should I get a intel based version of photoshop to run optimal ??

Photoshop CS2 was primarily for the PPC and Tiger already included Rosetta. If you have the $$, by all means upgrade to the latest Photoshop. It'll definitely be faster and you can take advantage of all the new features.

If you install CS2 on your new Mac with Snow Leopard, Rosetta will automatically be downloaded and installed.

CS2 ran awful on Tiger and 8.0 ran amazing on my Athlon desktop with less ram and processor.

Isnt there a way to get discounted Photoshop if you're a student or isn't their a business edition that companies use?

Snow Leopard doesn't include Rosetta as default so if you need it then it will ask for you to install it. You were running Rosetta in Tiger without knowing it which is why CS2 was so slow. If you get an Intel version of Photoshop which started with CS3 and above then it will run faster as long as your computer can handle the minimum requirements of the newer Photoshop. Your school should offer discounts so you may want to ask your school about it.