Capture NX 2 and View NX on Windows 7

<p>I have been running both NX 2 and the latest version of View NX with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Beta. Both programs run without any problems on my HP laptop--in fact they both process images faster than they do running on Vista (boots a heck of a lot faster, too. Photoshop Elements 6.0 with the Nikon raw converter works, too.<br>

Most Vista drivers seem to work OK on Win 7 (Win 7s foundation is Vista). One is the codec program that allows nikon raw files to be seem in thumbnails like tiff and jpeg files. The codec addon for Vista doesn't make the raw image thumbnails viewable. You can view a NEF file by right-clicking on the thumbnail and selecting "preview."<br>

The best workaround at this point, for me at least, is viewing the raw files initially using ViewNX.<br>

From what I've found after a couple of weeks of testing, Windows 7 seems as solid in Beta as Vista is after three years of improvements. I want a new desktop but I'm not going to get one until it comes with Windows 7.</p>

<p>Hi Wayne!<br>

Just curious, on a PC do you have to right click to preview a NEF thumbnail? I find it unpractical!<br>

I visited the MS homepage the other day. I wanted to see what Windows 7 was all about. It seems it doesn't need as much memory as Vista does to run it. That must be why the Applications run faster.<br>

"Windows 7 seems as solid in Beta as Vista is after three years of improvements."<br>

That sounds like a warning! :)</p>

 

<p>Rene:<br>

On Vista the nefs show up in a directory as thumbnail sized images--just like jpegs. In Win 7 if you right click and choose "preview" it will show the photo but it won't be displayed as a thumbnail image. Shouldn't complain--XP won't show NEF thumbnails, either.<br>

Although MS recommends at least a gig of memory to run Win 7 I've seen reports from several people with 512 meg running it without a problem. While it may be Vista based it feels a lot leaner. On Vista I have to wait probably a couple of minutes for it to boot to the desktop and then another minute to connect to my wireless network. Same machine running Win 7 does it all in a little more than a minute. And the moment the desktop appears, I'm connected wirelessly.<br>

The word is Win 7 is supposed to be out by Christmas but given the state of the economy I'm better MS will release it earlier (The Betas shut down Aug. 1) Besides, the word is out on how much better Win 7 runs and I suspect its going to be really hard for computer makers to sell Vista machines.<br>

If you run Win 7 and NX2 you won't want to go back to an earlier OS.</p>

<p>Wayne... i will give it a try. i will install it in my Macbook Pro. I installed vista before coz I have friends always asking stuff about Vista and i had never use it. It was really funny coz I have 3 GB of RAM on my Apple and of curse it is really fast but same machine Vista was so slow. I just couldn't believe it. I have 3 windows machines with XP on them. i never touched them but they are much faster than what Vista was when I tried it.</p>

<p>I think Beta download is only possible for a few more days. If you are running beta, MS will give you a chance to buy in Sept so you can still use it.</p>

<p>Wayne is correct, it runs on very little resources. And old hardware. The world is going with netbooks and MS definatey needed an OS that will run on the likes of Acer Ones etc.</p>

<p>If you have a 64-bit cpu and motherboard running XP, give the W7 64-bit a shot. It's fast.</p>

<p>My laptop is 64 bit. Win 7 64 takes a little longer to boot but seems to process photos a little faster even with 32 bit programs.I have three gigs and am upgrading to 4 gigs memory. Right now I'm running Vista, Win 7 32 bit and Win 7 64 bit in seperate partitions.<br>

I hadn't heard MS will offer beta users a chance to buy in September. It would be nice if it would recognize and convert a beta install. From what I've read you are much better off doing a clean install that upgrading over Vista. Clean installs run faster.</p>

<p>A good thing is that the update installation worked well on my trial of WIN7.<br>

I updated my fairly complex Vista64 installation (Yes a copy of it ^^) with the WIN7 install program. It took about 2 hours for the installation (compared to some 20 minutes for a install on a blank HD) and Win7 was installed.<br>

Besides the peppermint user interface that cannot be converted to the "classic" interface all installed software seemed to work fine.</p>

<p>Looking forward to the final release and the SP1 then I will migrate.</p>

 

<p>Wayne, were you using Vista drivers on this install of Win7? Have you tried any printers or scanners yet?</p>

<p>Yes, I'm using Vista drivers--except in a couple of instances where MS update has automatically made Win 7 drivers available. I'm running an HP 7280 wireless all in one printer. As soon as Win 7 booted the first time it immediately found my wireless network and asked for my password. Then it immediately identified the HP printer/scanner and automatically installed the appropriate drive (Vista. I think).<br>

Initially Win 7 loaded generic sound and graphics drivers but as soon as it got and internet connection it found the proper drivers from HP so they could be downloaded and installed.</p>

<p>This is...about time. That the Windows goes and gets the drivers. I converted a box to Ubuntu and was just amazed how it did it all on it's own as well. After you hit install, with Ubuntu, you come back in 30 min to a desktop with a Firefox icon that connects.</p>

<p>Does anyone know if Capture NX runs faster on a Mac Pro or Windows Vista64 / Windows7 64</p>