spyware in Elements 11

[plasma181]

<p>Though the review is now several months old, there is a review of Photoshop Elements 11 over at Amazon where the reviewer claims there is some fairly aggressive "spyware" built into the program. I use PSE 7 and was thinking of upgrading to 11 or 12. Has anyone heard of these intrusive programs? Are they something I / we should be concerned with ?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R3UWKJLJ5UCASC/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R3UWKJLJ5UCASC">http://www.amazon.com/review/R3UWKJLJ5UCASC/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R3UWKJLJ5UCASC</a> </p>

<p>If the reviewer is correct, I may have to try ( gasp! ) Paintshop Pro. </p>

[sknowles]

<p>Except the reviewer didn't say where the person who gave him PSE 11 got the application, and likely not from Adobe. Some more explanation is helpful before any accusations are made about it having embedded spyware. As for Adobe's application manager, it's been known for a long time without problems or issues by users, it's not new or news, in part because many applications do this, check for authentication and updates.</p>

[plasma181]

<p>It seems like there was a very lively discussion about the Adobe Application Manager on the Adobe forums last year. </p>

<p><a href="http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1070249">http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1070249</a> </p>

<p>Now I will have to check my computer at home to see if I have this on there. </p>

 

[GBarrington]

<p>Having switched to PSP X5, I've got to say it's a better editor PSE. I'm not the least bit sorry I switched. Do I think PSP X6 is needed? Not really if you can get a deal on X5, take it.</p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p>where the reviewer claims there is some fairly aggressive "spyware" built into the program</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

The reviewer does not really claim that nor does the reviewer bother to understand what AAM does. There are plenty of similar issues one could raise with software from Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc.</p>

[plasma181]

<p>Glen : I have actually uploaded the trial version of Paintshop Pro X6. It competes directly with Elements. The problem with elements is that there are stupid little things it can't do that would have been easy to put in. It can't batch convert 16 bit tif's to 8 bit tif's or jpg's. It can't do simple corrections on 16 bit. The biggest advantage to Paintshop is that the people who write it aren't trying to drive you away from it so you will buy some $1,000 program. The people who write Paintshop actually want you to buy it. ( What a concept! ) </p>

[keith reeder]

<p>Yep, the 16 bit thing makes Elements a complete non-starter for me.</p>

<p>PSP is actually better than Elements in some other pretty important ways too (in my estimation, anyway) - I <em>especially</em> like the sharpening algorithm called "Focus", that's part of the "Enhance Photo" > "Smart Photo Fix" dialogue, which I think provides better results than even "Smart Sharpen" in Photoshop.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>There are plenty of similar issues one could raise with software from Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yep.</p>

<p>Jeff, can you remember the ructions a few years ago about <a href="http://www.prophotoshow.net/2007/12/08/dxo-optics-pro-5-receives-rage-and-criticism-due-to-pace-interlock-drm/">DxO Optics' use of Pace Anti Piracy software</a>?</p>

<p>Wasn't a popular decision <em>at all </em>on their part, especially as it was quite capable of taking down any PC it thought was using DxO Optics Pro illegally....</p>

[plasma181]

<p>Keith :<br>

I'm working my trial version of Paintshop Pro to see how it functions. It's a little tricky moving from the ADJUST mode to the EDIT mode. Sometimes the picture you are working on transfers from one mode to the other, and sometimes it closes. Paintshop doesn't seem to have a panorama mode, but I guess I can keep my old Elements 7 for that. </p>

[keith reeder]

<p>I tend to work <em>only </em>in "Edit" mode, Robert - it's (a little) more like the interface I'm used in Photoshop.</p>

[plasma181]

<p>That might be the best way to go. The program decides when it wants to allow transfer between the modes and when it doesn't. <br>

Have you come across any good plugins that correct skin color? That seems to be the toughest correction for me. If a flower is off color, it might be an improvement, but that doesn't work with human skin. </p>