Posted by renae sandberg on October 31, 2007 at 12:18 PM
Hi, I haven't been around in awhile, most out of town. I have two computers sitting here vista ready with all the right cards, 4 gig of ram, and I haven't seen any complaints online since early last year. Is anyone up and running on it now? My advisor says it is finally working great on the business side of it but he isn't sure about photography. I am not a gamer nor do I do music downloads on my system. It is all photography and some internet sites. Any and all opinions would be fantastic to have.
Thank you in advance for your time.
Sincerely, Renae
For a traveling computer I'm using Vista 32 bit Home Basic on a Dell notebook with 2 gig RAM, CS3, Autopano Pro. Initially I had 1 gig but it wasn't enough for CS3.
For my main desktop I'm using Vista 64 bit Home Premium on a Dell Optiplex with 4 gig RAM, CS3, Autopano Pro. I had to buy a sound card because no 64 bit driver was available for the built in audio
I'm networking these two computers and an older Dell running XP Pro and even a Mac notebook with no issues.
The only issue on either computer was a minor clitch in Autopano Pro that tried to use a directory for temporary storage that is not available in Vista. Easily solved by using the Edit: Settings: General tab and setting the Temporary Folder as needed.
That said, I'm not sure that Vista has improved my computing experience. It has some nice filtering capabilities for rating and finding images, but so does CS3 bridge. Also, I don't use its multimedia capabilities. It came installed on the Dell Notebook. I installed it on the Optiplex desktop because I wanted to explore 64 bits.
In short, I think you can install it without issues, but unless you want its rating and keyword features, I'm not sure you'll reap much benefit given the uses you describe.
Posted by Dan Borzynski on October 31, 2007 at 2:41 PM
If yo are running older peripherals, such as scanners, I'd check to make sure the needed drivers are available. That is the main reason I bought my current machine prior to Vista, as I wasn't sure if everything would be supported.
Thank you both for the advice. I have checked out the programs I have and they are all Vista compatible. The reason I want to go there is simply for the extra ram. I am processing 16bit 600 dpi photos for my canon ipf5000 and I have been told xp pro is only capable of recognizing 3 gig of ram and it does need ram to run. CS3 should be able to access the full amount it is capable of with 4 gig. Does this sound correct or am I just dreaming???LOL
Sincerely, Renae
The amount of memory that 32 bit Vista can address is 4 gig, BUT.
Your video card uses the same address space and so will "cover up" some of that 4 gig. So, for example, if you have a video card with 512 meg of memory you will loose half a gig. Other cards that plug into PCI slots may cover up additional memory further reducing what the OS can "see."
This is why I wanted to explore 64 bit Vista. But that option is more likely to run into driver compatibility problems. For example I cannot use my Polaroid slide scanner or an older DVD writer on my 64 bit system.
Just a firewire card reader and Canon 5000 printer at this moment and I am networked with two other computers. My understanding is that CS3 can only access 3 gig of ram. Maybe I should just add one more so I have 5 for the operating system and the video card. I know my video card is 1 gig Geforce dual video card. I will read the articles. Thank you.
Hopefully the article I referenced will help. Adding more than 4 gig of ram will not help in a 32 bit OS. Given you have a 1 gig video card I don't think you'll get any memory benefit upgrading to 32 bit Vista. Sorry.
Yikes, I tried reading the articles. I am afraid I have come to same conclusion. I will send this info on to the man who built my machine. Right now I can only access 2.75 ram on this machine. I may have to call canon back and the the 16bit CS3 plug in for my xp pro.
Thank you again.
Sincerely, Renae
If your computer can hold more than 4 gig of memory and if there is a 64 bit driver for your Canon 5000 printer, my experience with 64 bit Vista is positive. Don't be afraid of it. Be aware though that even with 64 bit Vista you'll have to install 5 or 6 gig before any benefit will kick in. Good luck.
Posted by Dan Baumbach on November 2, 2007 at 11:17 AM
Are you saying that if I buy a new core duo 2 computer with Vista, it will still be running at 32 bits and I need a special 64 bit version of Vista?
Dan, almost certainly it will be 32 bit Vista. Check with your vendor to see if they will factory install 64-bit Vista (HP will on certain workstations).
The issue for vendors and Microsoft is that hardware manufacturers have not always provided 64 bit drivers. So installing 64 bit by default they run the risk that you will already own an unsupported printer, scanner, or other device. BTW, Epson has been very good about supporting older printers and scanners.
Also see this article that explains how you can get a 64-bit Vista on DVD given you already have the 32 bit product.
Even with 64-bit Vista and a 64 bit processor, if your computer only has a 32 bit chipset, the video card and PCI cards will usurp memory addresses working down from the 4 gig boundary. In short if your computer only allows you to install a maximum of 4 gig (has a 32 bit chipset), don't expect to get the use of all 4 gig. I know this from personal experience. My Dell Optiplex is able to access 3.5 of the 4 gig so I don't feel too cheated.
You really need to work closely with a vendor on this.
Renae - keep away from Vista!!! It totally messes up my color management- and it is not only me - many people have this problem. Vista and its pathetic security system will throw out your loaded calibration profile if you load it in the usual way. And if you finalyl get around that, there are serious inconsistencies in how the image is converted to web - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - and I am doing everything else right, believe me.
Stay with XP until the geniuses at Micki Soft finally fix that issue.
Discussion
11 repliesThank you in advance for your time.
Sincerely, Renae
For a traveling computer I'm using Vista 32 bit Home Basic on a Dell notebook with 2 gig RAM, CS3, Autopano Pro. Initially I had 1 gig but it wasn't enough for CS3.
For my main desktop I'm using Vista 64 bit Home Premium on a Dell Optiplex with 4 gig RAM, CS3, Autopano Pro. I had to buy a sound card because no 64 bit driver was available for the built in audio
I'm networking these two computers and an older Dell running XP Pro and even a Mac notebook with no issues.
The only issue on either computer was a minor clitch in Autopano Pro that tried to use a directory for temporary storage that is not available in Vista. Easily solved by using the Edit: Settings: General tab and setting the Temporary Folder as needed.
That said, I'm not sure that Vista has improved my computing experience. It has some nice filtering capabilities for rating and finding images, but so does CS3 bridge. Also, I don't use its multimedia capabilities. It came installed on the Dell Notebook. I installed it on the Optiplex desktop because I wanted to explore 64 bits.
In short, I think you can install it without issues, but unless you want its rating and keyword features, I'm not sure you'll reap much benefit given the uses you describe.
Sincerely, Renae
Your video card uses the same address space and so will "cover up" some of that 4 gig. So, for example, if you have a video card with 512 meg of memory you will loose half a gig. Other cards that plug into PCI slots may cover up additional memory further reducing what the OS can "see."
Look here for an explanation.
This is why I wanted to explore 64 bit Vista. But that option is more likely to run into driver compatibility problems. For example I cannot use my Polaroid slide scanner or an older DVD writer on my 64 bit system.
What peripherals do you use?
Thank you again.
Sincerely, Renae
- Dan.
The issue for vendors and Microsoft is that hardware manufacturers have not always provided 64 bit drivers. So installing 64 bit by default they run the risk that you will already own an unsupported printer, scanner, or other device. BTW, Epson has been very good about supporting older printers and scanners.
Also see this article that explains how you can get a 64-bit Vista on DVD given you already have the 32 bit product.
Even with 64-bit Vista and a 64 bit processor, if your computer only has a 32 bit chipset, the video card and PCI cards will usurp memory addresses working down from the 4 gig boundary. In short if your computer only allows you to install a maximum of 4 gig (has a 32 bit chipset), don't expect to get the use of all 4 gig. I know this from personal experience. My Dell Optiplex is able to access 3.5 of the 4 gig so I don't feel too cheated.
You really need to work closely with a vendor on this.
Stay with XP until the geniuses at Micki Soft finally fix that issue.