Problems Going from XP to Vista?

I'm purchasing a new laptop (HP-DV6589) and am trying to anticipate any

problems that may come up between operating systems and software. The new

computer will have Vista Ultimate (64-bit) and my desktop has XP (32-bit). How

will this affect image files (RAWs) that I load onto the laptop after shooting

and then transfer to my desktop when I return from a trip? Will they transfer

w/o any problems? Would I be better off just keeping the images on my laptop

and not creating problems going from 64 to 32 bit? Should I just bite the

bullet on that one and upgrade my desktop to Vista also? If it doesn?t matter,

then I?ll save my $ for a while.

 

Also, how does going to Vista change my previous image files that were

processed in Photoshop, (usually PSCS2)? Will they look worse or any different

at all if the old ones are brought up and now saved in Vista?

 

Thanks for the feedback. Bill

Vista will not affect the appearance of your images since it is an OS, not a image software. In my experience photoshop works fine in vista, i haven't hand any major hiccups with my vista machine.

you don't say what kind of camera you use, so I would make sure the raw files are supported on Vista first.

 

Your images will look the same. Unless you have a 64 bit Photoshop, you'll still be working in a 32 bit environment when you use it.

you will experience many problems and wonder why MS put out such a crummy product, but

you probably won't experience any problems with Photoshop.

Why would you buy the new laptop with Vista in the first place? IMO using any Microsoft OS which has been on the market less than 2 years is inviting trouble.

I recently had to replace my laptop. Having heard all the dire predictions like Anthony's above I was dreading the switch. However, it has only required getting the latest downloads for some of my software. Even programs that I rely on that are no longer being updated have worked without a single glitch. I find it hard to understand what all the commotion is about.

Good luck! My IT expert has business clients in networked environments that have

mothballed Vista machines and reverted because of fatal issues. Depends on the use I guess.

Quite a variety of responses here. Only adds to my anxiety. I always shoot RAWs on a Canon 1Ds. Process files from Adobe Bridge into PS CS2. I'll try to check tonight, but it only makes sense that Adobe would have drivers in place, etc. by now. But then again...

William, the problems you encounter will depend on the software you use.

 

Google every program you plan on moving to the new machine and check it out to see what other users have experienced and if there's a fix out there or if a paid upgrade is required. Include the less obvious, like hardware drivers for whatever peripherals you plan to connect.

 

Hopefully the transition will go fine, but you're the only one who knows what you have.

"...My IT expert has business clients in networked environments that have mothballed Vista machines..."

 

Corporate environments tend to be VERY conservative in their upgdades. Many corporates are still running IE6, because that's what their SOE (standard operating environment) was tested with.

 

Doesn't mean Vista has issues.

I replaced my XP/Pro laptop with a new Vista Home Premium laptop a couple of months ago. There were a few learning curves to negotiate, and not all software (Firewall, Antivirus, Antispyware in particular) was up to it, but all is well now. My copy of Photoshop/CS2 was upgraded multiple times, starting out as a copy of Elements 2.0, upgraded to PhotoShop/CS, then to Photoshop/CS2, so I had to call Adobe to get it unlocked (I no longer had the original versions, so I couldn't re-apply the upgrade in series), but they were extremely helpful (I had registered each version), and had me up and running in no time.

 

The operating system won't affect your images at all, and neither will the photo editing software as long as you run the same versions on each, what can affect the appearance would be the monitor on each PC.

Only you can answer: What is your pain threshold and what level of fault tolerance can you

stand. Business' does tend to be conservtaive - because we cannot stand to waste valuable

resources on incompatibilities and cannot tolerate data loss. We want reliability, stability,

economy, and usability. What do you want? How much can you stand to lose (time, money,

data).

 

There is always a risk with new MS systems, upgrades, and software. We tend to let

the dust settle. New is not the same is improved. We do not use IE7 because of some

serious issues - still cannot handle FTP correctly months after release.

 

When Dell rolled out Vista, they quit shipping XP on the business machines (probably

forced by Microsoft). HUGE backlash and complaints. Dell relented and now XP is an

option again.

 

We used iView MediaPro for years (Mac and Windows versions). Great program. Bought by

MS and changed to Expressions Media. Free upgrade to new MS software to registered

users. Many complaints of broken features, loss of functionality, etc., by early adopters.

 

I'd wait for SP1 or 2 before deploying any MS operating system or major software. Life is

too short and I avoid unnecessary pain. To me, a computer is a tool, not a project to make

work.

The question I tend to ask is what do you need Vista for? If you don't need it, then why go through extra bother for it?

In my opinion XP professional better than any Vista..if it was me i would not bother to upgrade ..but even better a Mac os x - a must for photographers but expensive - there is a software call Parallel so you can run concurrently Windows and Mac os x on your Mac - Cheers an ex Windows user .

"...what do you need Vista for..."

 

Sorry, it's not going to be your decision for too long. XP will soon become virtually 'unsupported' (IT term). The big vendors will have the decision made for you: VISTA.

I have XP/Pro and Vista and use Vista daily now. However, if I were rolling out an office or a corporation I would consider it premature to go with Vista; probably waiting for SP1 at least.

Sorry what i wrote about Mac is irrelevant to your question ..my opinion and only .About Vista yes wait for SP1 .

At the print shop we often get bastard CD's written with Vistas canned CD writting software.<BR><BR> By bastard I mean a CD that will NOT READ with any of our dozen plus win2000 boxes, or with win98se; NT4, etc. <BR><BR>With an XP boxes its a roll of the dice to read these bastard vista written discs; most will not read the bastard cds; some lock up the OS, others will let you see the files but the copy and paste fails. Thus one must waste time trying each XP box; usually the oldest one is tryed first since the success ratio is better. The oldest XP box has an old busmaster IDE port on its 1996 motherboard; its a triple boot box. Its the box we use for troublemaker disks; its running a slow interface and the read is slower; thus it often reads marginal or pesky discs.<BR><BR> When one can actually transfer the customers files the transfer time is never as quick as a normal CD; often its an order of magnitude longer. We have several dozens of computers of all vintages; and enough CD/DVD readers to rule out handware issues of a bad reader. The Vista written CD's are slow to read no matter what brand CD reader is used. Its not a CD issue; it happens with all brands of CD's.<BR><BR> Thus Vista is a good choice for the amateur; since there are no deadlines; no concerns over farting around and futzing. <BR><BR>The bastard Vista written disks are always unreadable with our imac too. Thus I probably am going to get a vista box to place on the LAN just to read these bastard Vista cd and dvd disks we receive; written with some mostly vista jive dialect; or maybe installing a rootkit? With one vista customer we go one of them to use Nero as the burning program and the jackassery of futzing to read their disks stopped. With most customers; its more like oh well, vista is here to stay an its your problem that it takes a alot of time to read the disks. <BR><BR>All these problematical discs written with folks vista systems were with the canned burner software; written by some idiot that needs to be keel hauled; or force to eat his own bs. <BR><BR>Many folks that are Vista groupies that I know say its not a Vista issue; and that my dozens of readers are magically bad. Its seems more like a huge backward step if a bastard CD is written thats hard to read or not at all. Maybe Vista's replacement will add another CD dialect and create more confusion.

Why not create a dual boot system? I have a 64 bit platform running Vista 64 and XP Pro. That gives me the best of both worlds. I use Vista only for Photoshop at this point in time, with the advantage of having Photoshop able to look at 3 gigs of RAM vis 1.7-2 gigs in 32 bit systems.