Confessions of a Windows Luddite

[MikeBC]

Well not exactly a luddite, BUT . . .

For at least 3 years I have shunned Windows Vista and Windows 7 as my desktop system OS. Didn't have a choice on my laptop, and have gotten along with the latest and greatest from Microsoft, but I didn;t get the warm fuzzies either. Now, I have finally hit the wall.

Tried today to download and install Lightroom 4 as a trial - and lo and behold, can't as it needs Windows Vista or later. Probably will be the same for CS6 and everything new from Adobe, so the writing is on the wall - upgrade or stagnate!

So, time to suck it up and get into Win7 or maybe wait until Windows 8 is out and then make the leap.

Hmn . . .

[JulieM]

Originally Posted by MikeBC

So, time to suck it up and get into Win7 or maybe wait until Windows 8 is out and then make the leap.

Hmn . . .

...or get a Mac.

[Preeb]

Win 7 is the best MS OS yet, and I've had experience with them all, from DOS 3.0. Get a system with some juice and Win 7 and you shouldn't have any issues. Vista was a huge mistake, but the problems were corrected with Win 7. Lightroom 4 takes some muscle to run smoothly, from what I've read.

[TonyW]

I was a long hold out with XP and passed up on Vista but finally had to bite the bullet (due to the need for a new computer) and I have to confess that Windows 7 is a vast improvement on XP (and an even vaster one on Vista). And I am a Windows fan - I started on Windows 1 longer ago than I care to remember (it came on two floppies back when they were really big and floppy ) - no hard drive back then - just a few kB of RAM - but Windows was the first time I was able to (slowly) do two things at the same time - not that I really needed to but it was nice to know that you could.

Tony

[Ivor]

I actually use Vista and, once I got to know it and customise it (removing all the useless stuff like Aero), I became one of the few people in the world who like it. At work I use Win 7 and don't notice any appreciable difference, although the techies at work say 7 is faster than XP or Vista.

I do a few computer repairs for my computer illiterate friends and family in my spare time and am their unpaid and free helpline and for them doing semi-technical stuff in Vista and 7 is easier for them to understand than in XP.

Everyone who has a Mac would lay down their lives for them, although I wonder if this is because they have spent so much money that they wouldn't dare admit any fault with them.

Don't hang out for 8, because there will be teething problems and by the time they have released SP1 to fix those issues it'll be another couple of years down the line.

(I did run Ubuntu for a little while, and although I loved the Linux operating system, PSE didn't like it that much. I didn't have Lightroom then.)

Ivor,

[JEGavlas]

Originally Posted by Ivor

Don't hang out for 8, because there will be teething problems and by the time they have released SP1 to fix those issues it'll be another couple of years down the line.

Ivor,

I read a review on Windows 8 and am not very excited about it. I held out from XP and switched to Windows 7 beta as soon as it was available. Window 8 is more geared to a tablet version (my opinion) with the touch screens. Here is a link to the review: http://windowssecrets.com/links/vble...F%3Fn%3Dstory1

Depending what your experience is it may interest you. I much preferred DOS and finally switched to Windows 95. Those same DOS commands still work today.

[dspec01]

I was pleasantly surprised with Windows 7. Never did Vista. I know it's heresy, but I like Windows 7. My understanding of Windows 8 is that it was designed for tablets. Have not seen how it will be on a PC.

[stevenm]

Bite the bullet and go with windows 7. I've had them all since pre dos and haven't had a lick of trouble from 7. All I can say is that if you are buying a new machine, get at least a qqquad core 3.4ghz, 8gigs of ram. a video card with no less tha 1 gig with a gpu and a big hd

[dj_paige]

Big powerful graphics card not needed for Lightroom, as Lightroom does not use the GPU. Of course, if you play games, or edit movies, or have some other reason to get a graphics card, then by all means do so.

[MikeBC]

Well, I bought it a year or so ago, and never had time to get it up to speed.

I don't do the game thing, but use another product for creating slide shows for the camera club and other personal and its latest version wants the big bad graphics card. Can't figure out why, but love the product - ProShow Producer.

Working on something else now, but will get down to it next week and start installing Lightroom, CS5 and ProShow and some other goodies.