Photoshop CC, Windows 8, Windows 7: Test Underway

Hi All,

I know many are frustrated with Adobe's subscription decision (and Microsoft, their next versions of everything will be subscription based). For the few of us that are choosing to jump in head first, I just wanted to let those folks know that Photoshop CC has been released and I'm running an extensive test on it, in both Windows 7 and Windows 8. I'll post results shortly. Yes, I'm a hopeless early adopter, I can't sleep at night if I'm not on the latest version of everything.

I can't run Mac tests yet, still looking forward to having the funds for a MacBook Pro. There's one of the CC advantages by the way... the second install can be either Mac or Windows. I'm all over MacBook with Retina Display when the budget allows.

Once I post the tests, I'll list some of the real advantages to the CC version and pricing model (OK, you can stop laughing, there are a few, like the Mac/Win licensing, lol!)

ANYWAY, I would like to stress to those who want to keep Photoshop as a purchased software and not get into this subscription model to try and get setup with Windows 7 and Photoshop CS6. That is by far the most stable environment I've used in my years with Photoshop. And as a software developer by day (with a bunch of Microsoft certifications, not just blowing smoke here, lol), the improvements under the hood that Windows 7 has over XP are almost immeasurable, not to mention the SPEED. For instance, Win7 restarts a failed video card driver and continues on with life, and you'll most likely not even know it. XP hangs and you have to reboot, and probably lose your work. Plus, PS CS6 has Auto-Save, and has recovered my work in the rare times it DID crash. Seriously think about getting up to at least those two levels and you'll be set for a long time to come (if you get a new camera in the future that CS6's ACR doesn't support you'll need your camera's software to open RAW of course).

Last thing to stress to help people get themselves in a stable position with their editing environment: RAM has been as low-priced as can be for a while, but it won't stay there forever. In fact it's starting to rise again, almost like it follows the housing market, lol. GET ALL THE RAM you can, now. If your system can handle 16GB, that's where you want to be. 8GB is doable, but on all the different machines that I've run CS5 or later, 16GB of ram makes it start to breath nicely. If you run a triple channel motherboard (that's what mine is), get up to 12GB minimum, but 24GB is best. I run that with no issues. Get RAM whilst it's cheap, you won't regret it. If you've never added ram into a desktop PC, it's SO easy, you'd be appalled that places actually charge to do it. Just don't move your feeters once you open the case so there's no static electricity forming.

I'll be back with the verdict shortly. I have a wedding to shoot this weekend and I'll edit the whole thing in CC on Win 8 and see what blows up.

Paul,

Thanks for running the tests! Given what the future may hold for many of us, knowing how well the OS and apps get along with one another makes good sense.

I currently run CS6 and Win 7 with 16GB RAM and the performance has been excellent. CS6 has not crashed once since I installed it. The platform is very stable. I also have CS6 and Win 7 running on my Puget Laptop with 8GB of RAM and have had no instability issues at all. Both my computers are running Intel i5 CPU's and 1GB video cards.

I think one thing that really helps with performance is an SSD for the OS, often used apps, and working files. That, along with a decent amount of RAM makes a big difference.

Aside from the stability and performance issues with XP, it is much less secure than Win 7, or 8. Upgrading from XP is worth the hard and soft costs, and added peace of mind for that reason alone.

We'll be looking forward to the results of your tests.

--P

Given what the future may hold for many of us, knowing how well the OS and apps get along with one another makes good sense.

You hit the nail on the head with my intentions!

We may not like where retail software is heading, but there are things we can do to make the situation better in our favor. Windows 7 and a boatload of RAM is essential. If you're on a Mac, tip #2 still applies, lol.

I appreciate your reply Preston!

Thanks for doing this, Paul.

Paul - Thanks, as always, for your input on all of this. Very Invaluable.

Sandy

I thank you too, Paul. You are a valuable resource to this community! Not enough to pay you or anything, but hey!

My very first impressions of CS CC:
- Looks exactly like CS6. One difference is the Image Size dialog box has a different look, but still with the same data.
- The time to open and to save files is the same as CS6.
- Files created in CS CC with layers do open with the same layers in CS6. I don't know if this compatibility would work if CS CC was removed from my machine.
- I haven't used the new Smart Sharpen because I prefer Unsharp.
- Noiseware doesn't work with CS CC yet. Annoying. I'm getting a headache bouncing between CS6 for Noiseware and CS CC for Shake Reduction. Imagenomic is working on the fix.
- Refine Edge hasn't changed, and I still stink at using it. That hasn't changed either.
- Shake Reduction has underwhelmed. You'll never believe this, but my results look different than the marketing demos. On really blurry images, it didn't save them. OK, no surprise there. Crap is still crap. However, on slightly blurry images, while it does make them sharper, it creates a ton of noise, even though I've already done my noise reduction step. There is an Artifact Suppression slider and a Smoothing slider in the Shake filter. Used together, they can suppress the new noise but duh, they also introduce softness.

On a different topic, I noticed the ProPhoto ppi default changed from 240 to 300 ppi for ACR 8 in both CS6 and CS CC. Changing the ppi doesn't change the image's pixel size (e.g., 5000x3000) or inches size (e.g. 14x11) or file size. I wonder where the image file stores the ppi data. Web posts say it only affects printing. Have any of you printing mavens noticed a difference with your own eyes between something printed at 240 ppi and 300 ppi? If this hijacks the CC thread, never mind.

One major advantage for me has been the inclusion of ACR as a filter. Since I use Aperture, the current version does not have some editing functions of ACR, thus I need to round trip on some images. By sending an image straight to Photoshop, I now can enter ACR if needed for some basic editing. Of course the hope is Apple will update Aperture sometime this century and then I won't need ACR.
I also found some success with using Shake Reduction on some "people" images taken in very dim light. It worked well but clearly soften the image somewhat. Some of the other sliders also can introduct artifacts. No doubt the feature could save some images, but their subsequent use would be for web display or 4x6 prints.
I haven't tried the new smart sharpen since I am loyal to the NIk sharpener. Probably should run a comparison test.

Thanks for mentioning ACR, Ken. I forgot to mention it in my post. I love that it's layer-enabled in PS now. I use ACR, but I prefer to introduce Clarity later, typically with a mask for specific areas. I prefer masking in PS.

While Paul's doing the heavy lifting, any other first impressions?