Windows 7 64bit & LR/CS4

[symple]

<p>My first post on photodotnet, and thought I would share my recent experience with the computer side of imaging. I moved from the beta Windows 7 to the RC1 version in 64bit and have been using CS4 and Lightroom. I have my images on a separate disk, and have found that Lightroom has imported the images at their original location with the adjustments and data from the 32bit windows XP environment that I originally worked with them in, and everything seems fine. I was disappointed that the genuine fractals plug-in does not work in the 64bit CS4, and my camera raw defaults are not holding when using either CS4 or Lightroom as they do in the the XP 32bit versions, but I am satisfied that the adobe default is extremely close to my profiles anyways. The 64bit driver for spyder2pro worked well, and the profile loads correctly at startup and in CS4. I am running system as a dual boot though so I can still use CS3 with all the plug-ins I have for it, and also use my digital cameras to import files since the drivers have not been updated to support 64bit for them.<br>

If you are stitching the 64bit version of CS4 is incredibly better than the 32bit on my system, and photoshop is showing over 3.5gb of available ram in 64bit versus less than 1.7 in 32bit (not including page file or scratch disks). There haven't been any program errors yet, and processing times are dramatically less when working with the same files in 7-12 image batches. Also the HDR automation is much more usable, though I need better groups of images to work with to explore this more. <br>

Overall I recommend trying the 64bit Windows 7 RC1 in a dual boot for those of you with licenses for Lightroom and or photoshop, it is really much better than 32bit XP and there is no cost. I never bothered with Vista, but this trial version is seeming worthwhile so far. I am going to try at saving my ACR camera defaults again, and see if they hold after a reboot, but this is a fairly minor problem.</p>

[philfx]

<p>Very nice to hear. I wonder what other Plug-ins work or don't work. Maybe we can start a list?<br>

Sad that defaults dont hold for raw. I wonder if the defaults cs4 / shad/highlight adjusments have default issues? brushes ok?<br>

Nice that Spyder works. My i1/screen is still 32bit only, so i cannot calibrate under 64. so I would have to Cal on 32 then swap boot to 64. Thats 1 reason why I am still XP. Win7 is what I will switch to when released. hope soon. Bummer is that I have XP 64, but there is no support. hoping MS will help out.</p>

[symple]

<p>Hello again. The camera raw defaults load each time time now. I performed an update to the CS4, and checked off "defaults specific to camera serial number", then re-entered the values for my bodies and saved them as defaults under 4.4. I must have missed that the first time. Everything is running very smoothly.</p>

[scott_turner]

<p>Just to clarify, the issues Simon is seeing with plug-ins look to be 64-bit issues, not Windows 7 as such. The same issues occur in Vista 64 when using the 64-bit version of CS4. Some vendors were quick to support 64-bit CS4, and some have dragged their feet a bit. However, there is always a fairly simple workaround. CS4 ships, and by default installs, both 32 and 64 bit versions when it sees a supported 64-bit OS. You can always move back to the 32 bit version if you have critical plug-ins.</p>

<p>Two of my most used plug-ins do have 64 bit versions available - Neatimage and PhotoKit Sharpener. Noiseware was a bit slower, but they finally released their 64-bit products last month. </p>

<p>Simon's comments on stitching are right on, but can be extended to any complex PS operations run on large images. I run with 8 GB, and have PS set to use about 5 of that. Even keeping generous history and cache level settings, PS swap sits idle. It's simply wonderful. On the other hand, if you don't work with large images, it's probably not such a big deal.</p>

<p>As for Windows 7 vs Vista 64, while I applaud many of the changes being made by the 'softies to enhance Vista (and honestly, folks that's all Win 7 is about), all the negative hype notwithstanding, Vista 64, SP1 is a rock-solid OS, and has been an excellent platform for all of my photo work. I moved to it as soon as PS released their 64-bit product, and have not regretted it for a second.</p>

<p>Scott</p>

[philfx]

<p>One of my main hangups for the switch is my monitor that has a dedicated calibrator. So far no driver for 64bit. I wonder if I can calibrate in vertual machine XP, and then expect the colors to behave the same in PS 64bit? </p>