Posted by Larry Corbett on August 4, 2008 at 10:27 AM
Hi All
Just looking at gettting a new PC from Dell who only seem to sell Windows Vista OS these days, does any oneuse Windows Vista Home premium with Adobe Photoshop? have you experienced any difficulties?
All the computer "experts" that I have spoken to so far say that Windows Vista is rubbish!?
Vista is a solid and reliable operating system and I for one recommend it highly. I've not used home premium but I see no reason why you would have any difficulty with it. The one thing I do say is that you should get lots of RAM - 2GB minimum. Tristan
I have used Vista for over a year with CS2, and had no problems whatsoever. I am no computer "expert" but if it does what it says on the tin, then what is the problem ? A lot of "experts" say the Canon 1D MkIII is rubbish, but then a lot of "experts" say it isnt.
I agree with Tristan.
The only issue I have had was with Nero and CS2, but that seems OK now. Definatley go for 4GB RAM if possible, and I keep UAC and the sidebar switched off.
Best wishes
Phil
Unfortunately, you'll have to buy a business machine or build your own (oem) if you want to get your hands on XP now as MS has 'closed' the availability to consumers (eg PC world etc). I personally would stick with XP if you can get it, but then I wouldn't recommend windoze these days either
PS ... not worth getting any more than 4Gb as XP/Vista can't use it unless you get the 64bit versions.
I'm using a Dell Inspiron with 2GB RAM. Vista, CS3 etc. etc. In over a year I've had NO problems what-so-ever.
Regards
Posted by John Robinson on August 4, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Just as an aside I am on Win 98 and although I don't use Adobe it works fine !
JR
Posted by eric weight on August 4, 2008 at 1:47 PM
Hi Larry,
I have a Dell XPS 420 with vista home premium and CS3 on it, and I manage. I would rather have my xp back. Apart from a few marginally prettier graphics, I have yet to find anything on it that warrants the wasted RAM. As far as I am concerned it is a gimmick and nothing much more. An excuse to make a previous system old hat. It is harder to find your way around on Vista and the more gimmicks you can keep switched off the better it is, so what's the point of them.
I hate Defender with a vengeance and I can't get rid of it from Vista, whereas with XP it was an option and could be uninstalled. I am not the only person that I know who has had internet problems due to defender updates. Vista is constantly interrogating me about whether I want to do things or not and insists that I can't delete things because I am not an administrator on my system which it also tells me I am, so work that out.
I am no computer genius I admit, but I never had half the problems with XP that I have had with Vista and XP was the first system on the first computer I ever had, so if nothing else that tells me MS have gone backwards.
I doubt you are going to have many options when it comes to buying a computer with XP on it, so you will probably end up with Vista and cope.
The Dell is great and I can cope with Vista, but I have a nagging feeling that I should have bought a mac after all.
Sorry if all that is a bit negative, but I speak as I find.
Posted by Dave Bartlett on August 4, 2008 at 2:19 PM
I have a Dell Dimension 9200 running Vista Home Premium with Lightroom 1.4.1 and Elements 6 at home and a Dell machine with Vista and CS2 at work and and have never had any problems at all. Had both going for over a year.
Phil is right that you can still get XP, but personally I would have no hesitation going with Vista.
Dave
Dave
Posted by Daniel Read on August 4, 2008 at 4:49 PM
My suggestion... get a Mac! Seriously, have a think about it. I switched earlier this year and couldn't be happier with the decision I made.
Cheers,
Dan.
Posted by Paul Inglis on August 4, 2008 at 6:36 PM
Hi Larry,
Man, are we still on this!!!! No offence Larry!!!
As time permits…
…I’ll have a wee rant!!!
Vista – It’s just another operating system plain and simple! It took awhile for them to bring it out! XP in IMHO was/is trite (no offence to those who love it!) as was Millennium. Hell, I remember the world before wins even existed (Texas Instrument, Sinclair 48K, the Commodore 64, and the BBC version to mention a few!!!) and a few well before those too!
As for Vista IMO – It’s great – love it! Nero on vista (well I’ve struggled with that!!!), everything else cool!
I’ve gone down the vista (from day one) route big time as I hated XP (for all those years), and I mean hated it! Vista isn’t prefect but it works! I’ve used Home Premium and Ultimate and prefer the latter (It’s worth the extra as far as I’m concerned!)
I don’t mind the sidebar – it works great on my systems!!!
Now for software;
Since SP-1, all is good; mind you it didn’t really suffer before if you knew how to fix the odd bug!
Office 2007 – It works
Abode;
• Photoshop Elements 3, 4, 6 – Works
• Photoshop CS & CS3 – Works
• Premier 4 – Works
• Premier CS3 – Works
• Lightroom – All versions to date works
• Acrobat - Works
All Microsoft software works as far as I can tell and have tried (Nothing old than 2000 tried though).
NX Capture – Works
Picture Project – Works (to an extent)
Presto applications – Works
SilverFast – Works
too mention as few…
A good processor with plenty of RAM is indeed required to run Vista well (mind you isn’t that the case for most OS and software today!). A good graphics cards of 512MB + would be adventurous too!
Minimum of a 2.00MHz (however 2.66MHz would be much better for a longer term machine) Processor and 2GB is needed at this particular moment in time (if you intend to keep the machine a couple of years min. then up that a little!). I try to change machines every three years but technological jumps means sooner in some years!
32-bit OS get no more than 2GB it just isn’t worth it, 64-bit OS, more the better. However bear in mind that some hardware that you have i.e. printers, etc… may not work with 64-bit!
I’m running 32-bit as some hardware needs updating and will be at 64-bit shortly!
I have four Dell laptops working with Vista (2 x Home Premium & 2 x Ultimate, mixed between Inspirion and Precision machines) plus two desktops both Precisions running on Ultimate. I’ve built two machines from scratch at half the price which run much more efficiently with Ultimate!
Defender is irritating but something has to bug you or it isn’t real!
As an image maker (whether it be photographic or filmmaking) firewire is a quick, quick way to transfer data (much, much faster than USB, even USB 2.0). So just make sure that firewire is possible on your chosen machine (don’t except something to work just because it’s supposed too! – been there done that and gotten the T-Shirt!).
Ok rant over!
Oh, consider Mac if you want to pay more, a lot more for what! The differences between the two OS’s is closing and fast so Mac will find virus’s will begin to effect them in the future. A good security software such as McAfee will save you an immense headache (I’ve suffered one virus in eight years and only three crashes in the same period (one on Millennium and two on XP).
PC is cheaper than Mac by far and doesn’t cause any real headaches if you purchase a good machine. With PC’s there are many choices; some good, while some are not! With Mac you have one choice!
Good luck!!!
Posted by Larry Corbett on August 5, 2008 at 4:12 AM
Cor blimey that was some read .. ...thanks alot Guys (I knew I came to the right place for honest advice)
in an ideal world I'd like a mac too but...
A. too expensive (I only have £500 to spend)
B. All my software (Adobe CS2/3/Lightroom, Autocad 2007/8/9 (3.5k for 1 user licence), Microsoft office etc etc is PC/windows compatable)
C. can't think of a C but am sure there was one a minute ago....getting old n forgetful
It appears that there is more posative comment than negative comment on vista above, yes xp is great and I use it in the office at work but for £500 I just can't get a decent spec with xp on it. So i'll give vista ago on my new Dell (Dell only recommends Vista and only sells vista but is the cheapest pc retailer I trust!) which will have 6 gb of ram (for Autocad) am sure photoshop will run fine though, although I 've had to upgrade my entire wireless router system from BT because "apparently" the one i've got isn't vista compatible..just an excuse to take more money off me i reakon!!
Thanks Paul I for your massive input (USB 2 is fast enough for my image transfer needs) I will reread and digest..then go online with Dell and customise to suit
Posted by Peter Barritt on August 5, 2008 at 6:45 AM
I think the nub of it is that modern cameras and modern software programmes are so complicated that there are inevitable glitches soon after release. There is something to be said for waiting a few months after a new camera or software programme release before purchasing. I've recently bought a monster new computer with Vista Business and it is running CS3 Lightroom, Bridge, Nero etc etc without any problems. Always worth checking the sites for any available updates as these are often the patches that are used post-release to fix problems that crop up. Best wishes Peter
Larry - unless you buy a 64bit edn of Vista, you are wasting money on the 6Gb ram. You might as well just get 4x 1Gb or 2x2Gb ram.
Vista and XP64 cannot use more than 4Gb....and even then they really only make around 3Gb available for you to use. As it's OS issue, Acad can't use the extra either.
If you go for 64bit edn of Vista, go through your hardware with a fine toothcomb and make sure everything has 64 bit drivers available. Things to watch for with 64bit include things like the dongle/keylocks/license managers - they tend to be the bits of software that don't always run...but can be crucial for things like Acad.
Good luck....
Posted by Paul Gibbs on August 5, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Err nick, xp x64 can use more than 4gb of memory, Xp x64 is based in the server 2003 code base and can address up to 128gb of physical memory.
Anyway, I use both, XP 32bit for work and vista 32bit for home.
My photo/games PC though is XP x64 and is probably the most stable system i have ever build, except it doesnt like it when i dont turn the water cooling pump on, it gets a little hissy at me when i do that.
I have used PS and capture one with vista 64bit and 32 bit with no issue.
Sorry - meant plain vanilla xp home/pro... (I'm using xp64 at home). I'm going cross-eyed fighting with Server 2003 64 bit and various peices of software today . Fried brains today
Larry... just check your printer drivers too, you might need to set aside some budget to buy a new printer when your old one refuses to work with Vista. And BT wheren't feeding you flannel when they said the Broadband modem wouldn't work - if it looks anything like a trilobyte, then just throw it in the bin. Your best bet would be to buy something like a Netgear DG834 or similar router...
Welcome to the PC upgrade treadmill...just typing all this has made me realise why I've started liking the Mac more
I'm surprised that no one has brought this up yet...
Vista has a problem keeping the monitor color stable. For those for whom monitor color is critical (like trying to match to your printer), when you have made a monitor profile using one of the modern puck devices, Vista will drop the color profile when it 'dims' the screen for any number of administrative dialogs - and then won't put the proper color back when it's done.
There are ways around this, but it is a big issue for people who are concerned about accurate color on their monitors. Apparently this has not been fixed even with the latest Vista update.
Discussion
20 repliesJust looking at gettting a new PC from Dell who only seem to sell Windows Vista OS these days, does any oneuse Windows Vista Home premium with Adobe Photoshop? have you experienced any difficulties?
All the computer "experts" that I have spoken to so far say that Windows Vista is rubbish!?
I have both and have had no real problems it just takes a little while to find your way around.
Ian Hardy
P S I agree about the ram i have 3 GB
The only issue I have had was with Nero and CS2, but that seems OK now. Definatley go for 4GB RAM if possible, and I keep UAC and the sidebar switched off.
Best wishes
Phil
PS ... not worth getting any more than 4Gb as XP/Vista can't use it unless you get the 64bit versions.
Regards
JR
I have a Dell XPS 420 with vista home premium and CS3 on it, and I manage. I would rather have my xp back. Apart from a few marginally prettier graphics, I have yet to find anything on it that warrants the wasted RAM. As far as I am concerned it is a gimmick and nothing much more. An excuse to make a previous system old hat. It is harder to find your way around on Vista and the more gimmicks you can keep switched off the better it is, so what's the point of them.
I hate Defender with a vengeance and I can't get rid of it from Vista, whereas with XP it was an option and could be uninstalled. I am not the only person that I know who has had internet problems due to defender updates. Vista is constantly interrogating me about whether I want to do things or not and insists that I can't delete things because I am not an administrator on my system which it also tells me I am, so work that out.
I am no computer genius I admit, but I never had half the problems with XP that I have had with Vista and XP was the first system on the first computer I ever had, so if nothing else that tells me MS have gone backwards.
I doubt you are going to have many options when it comes to buying a computer with XP on it, so you will probably end up with Vista and cope.
The Dell is great and I can cope with Vista, but I have a nagging feeling that I should have bought a mac after all.
Sorry if all that is a bit negative, but I speak as I find.
Phil.
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sq=xp&store=6&cat=107&sort=popularity&limit=10&page=1&subsearch=Go
Phil is right that you can still get XP, but personally I would have no hesitation going with Vista.
Dave
Dave
Cheers,
Dan.
Man, are we still on this!!!! No offence Larry!!!
As time permits…
…I’ll have a wee rant!!!
Vista – It’s just another operating system plain and simple! It took awhile for them to bring it out! XP in IMHO was/is trite (no offence to those who love it!) as was Millennium. Hell, I remember the world before wins even existed (Texas Instrument, Sinclair 48K, the Commodore 64, and the BBC version to mention a few!!!) and a few well before those too!
As for Vista IMO – It’s great – love it! Nero on vista (well I’ve struggled with that!!!), everything else cool!
I’ve gone down the vista (from day one) route big time as I hated XP (for all those years), and I mean hated it! Vista isn’t prefect but it works! I’ve used Home Premium and Ultimate and prefer the latter (It’s worth the extra as far as I’m concerned!)
I don’t mind the sidebar – it works great on my systems!!!
Now for software;
Since SP-1, all is good; mind you it didn’t really suffer before if you knew how to fix the odd bug!
Office 2007 – It works
Abode;
• Photoshop Elements 3, 4, 6 – Works
• Photoshop CS & CS3 – Works
• Premier 4 – Works
• Premier CS3 – Works
• Lightroom – All versions to date works
• Acrobat - Works
All Microsoft software works as far as I can tell and have tried (Nothing old than 2000 tried though).
NX Capture – Works
Picture Project – Works (to an extent)
Presto applications – Works
SilverFast – Works
too mention as few…
A good processor with plenty of RAM is indeed required to run Vista well (mind you isn’t that the case for most OS and software today!). A good graphics cards of 512MB + would be adventurous too!
Minimum of a 2.00MHz (however 2.66MHz would be much better for a longer term machine) Processor and 2GB is needed at this particular moment in time (if you intend to keep the machine a couple of years min. then up that a little!). I try to change machines every three years but technological jumps means sooner in some years!
32-bit OS get no more than 2GB it just isn’t worth it, 64-bit OS, more the better. However bear in mind that some hardware that you have i.e. printers, etc… may not work with 64-bit!
I’m running 32-bit as some hardware needs updating and will be at 64-bit shortly!
I have four Dell laptops working with Vista (2 x Home Premium & 2 x Ultimate, mixed between Inspirion and Precision machines) plus two desktops both Precisions running on Ultimate. I’ve built two machines from scratch at half the price which run much more efficiently with Ultimate!
Defender is irritating but something has to bug you or it isn’t real!
As an image maker (whether it be photographic or filmmaking) firewire is a quick, quick way to transfer data (much, much faster than USB, even USB 2.0). So just make sure that firewire is possible on your chosen machine (don’t except something to work just because it’s supposed too! – been there done that and gotten the T-Shirt!).
Ok rant over!
Oh, consider Mac if you want to pay more, a lot more for what! The differences between the two OS’s is closing and fast so Mac will find virus’s will begin to effect them in the future. A good security software such as McAfee will save you an immense headache (I’ve suffered one virus in eight years and only three crashes in the same period (one on Millennium and two on XP).
PC is cheaper than Mac by far and doesn’t cause any real headaches if you purchase a good machine. With PC’s there are many choices; some good, while some are not! With Mac you have one choice!
Good luck!!!
in an ideal world I'd like a mac too but...
A. too expensive (I only have £500 to spend)
B. All my software (Adobe CS2/3/Lightroom, Autocad 2007/8/9 (3.5k for 1 user licence), Microsoft office etc etc is PC/windows compatable)
C. can't think of a C but am sure there was one a minute ago....getting old n forgetful
It appears that there is more posative comment than negative comment on vista above, yes xp is great and I use it in the office at work but for £500 I just can't get a decent spec with xp on it. So i'll give vista ago on my new Dell (Dell only recommends Vista and only sells vista but is the cheapest pc retailer I trust!) which will have 6 gb of ram (for Autocad) am sure photoshop will run fine though, although I 've had to upgrade my entire wireless router system from BT because "apparently" the one i've got isn't vista compatible..just an excuse to take more money off me i reakon!!
Thanks Paul I for your massive input (USB 2 is fast enough for my image transfer needs) I will reread and digest..then go online with Dell and customise to suit
Vista and XP64 cannot use more than 4Gb....and even then they really only make around 3Gb available for you to use. As it's OS issue, Acad can't use the extra either.
If you go for 64bit edn of Vista, go through your hardware with a fine toothcomb and make sure everything has 64 bit drivers available. Things to watch for with 64bit include things like the dongle/keylocks/license managers - they tend to be the bits of software that don't always run...but can be crucial for things like Acad.
Good luck....
Anyway, I use both, XP 32bit for work and vista 32bit for home.
My photo/games PC though is XP x64 and is probably the most stable system i have ever build, except it doesnt like it when i dont turn the water cooling pump on, it gets a little hissy at me when i do that.
I have used PS and capture one with vista 64bit and 32 bit with no issue.
Larry... just check your printer drivers too, you might need to set aside some budget to buy a new printer when your old one refuses to work with Vista. And BT wheren't feeding you flannel when they said the Broadband modem wouldn't work - if it looks anything like a trilobyte, then just throw it in the bin. Your best bet would be to buy something like a Netgear DG834 or similar router...
Welcome to the PC upgrade treadmill...just typing all this has made me realise why I've started liking the Mac more
Vista has a problem keeping the monitor color stable. For those for whom monitor color is critical (like trying to match to your printer), when you have made a monitor profile using one of the modern puck devices, Vista will drop the color profile when it 'dims' the screen for any number of administrative dialogs - and then won't put the proper color back when it's done.
There are ways around this, but it is a big issue for people who are concerned about accurate color on their monitors. Apparently this has not been fixed even with the latest Vista update.
More on this here:
http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/Vistas_New_Color_Management_System_-_WCS
Heres something I've just read the very well might help you decide that Vista is cool!
Click Here!!!
Hope it helps!
Can't wait for my new PC to arrive