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Archive 2015 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?

  
 
StillFingerz
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


I've been putting off an upgrade; running XP still w/LR v3.6 and PS V5.x; also NeatImage. Budget issues held me back but finally it's time. I've looked thru my programming tools and all are Win10 ready, games are a different story but do have upgrade paths, and I'll first start with LR/PS v6.x then move to CC next year.

My first move will be a laptop this year, followed by a desktop late 2016 or early 2017; medical issues require bed rest and this won't change much until early next year. The laptop will be a 15", i7 Quadcore @3.4ghz, 16GB 2133ghz RAM, with a 256GB SSD boot and 1TB 7200rpm HD, video res will be 1920x1080 w/Nvidia 4GB video card, USB 3 and C connections. There is room to expand; 32gb RAM and a 2nd SSD but I holding off at the moment.

I've upgraded an old XP desktop to Win7 and it's usable but am wondering if I should get Windows 10 Pro or wait a bit and work with Win8.1 until Win10 is a bit more mature. Any thoughts from you Windows Post Processing folks would be greatly appreciated and any experiences you might share with various Windows versions would be super helpful

Thanks and Cheers,
Jerry

P.S. I'm not a Mac user, this upgrade is for both my business and personal use...
P.P.S. I'm using a 1DMk2N, 40D, 7D and will be getting a 6D around XMAS so my RAW files aren't huge! I'm not a power PP user just yet, use LR for most edits, am learning Photoshop; sill in my diaper stage



Nov 22, 2015 at 12:12 AM
Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


HI jerry,

whatever you do stay away from 8 or 8.1 .

I'm now a mac user (iMac and 11" air) but still have a hand in windows with other machines at home and work .

our home stuff has been updated to win 10 and I have to say its much less 'want to throw at the wall' than win 8 ever was . I still find myself scraping my head if I try and find something (settings etc) but maybe thats lack of use and now being used to OSX .
my shop machines can't go win 10 due to what they are connected to (engraving machine) hardware and software . at the moment the main one is win7 but if if MS do eventually force a win10 upgrade thru I have a XP machine as a backup (it doesn't even have internet access)

as far as photo apps go PS and LR recent versions work fine on both 7 and 10

from the laptop specs you mention is it something like the dell xps 15? if so it looks a good machine . one thing though is don't think the 1080 screen is touch enabled . maybe thats a plus for you ?



Nov 22, 2015 at 03:35 AM
15Bit
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


Honestly Jerry, i would save yourself the cost of the desktop and just get a screen or two and a docking station. If that laptop is a genuine quadcore (and not a dual core with hyperthreading), then it has plenty of juice and there is little to be gained from buying a separate desktop. And with a docking station you can hook in all manner of mouse/keyboard/trackball/graphics tablet or whatever works best for you, as well as external storage. My Dell docks even have e-sata.

Go to Windows 10. I've not used it myself yet (still on Win 7), but it gets good feedback. Into the future it will have much better support and functionality than Win 7, so it is the logical choice.



Nov 22, 2015 at 05:37 AM
dhphoto
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


I'm on Win7 and it's by far the best Windows OS I have used. It's fast and stable and still runs my old versions of Office etc

I tried three times to do the windows 10 online upgrade they push at us constantly and it hung the pc three times so I gave up, I haven't therefore tried win 10 but I do know from friends it's much better than Win 8 as Ian says. Whether it will run the older programs I need will be the factor as to whether I upgrade



Nov 22, 2015 at 06:21 AM
JHD21
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


I upgraded from windows 7, loved it, and have used windows 10 for about a month. No problems what-so-ever. The update was smooth with no glitches, all my apps worked and did not need to upgrade any drivers. But the best thing about it is that it was free which will not be the case forever. --Jim


Nov 22, 2015 at 07:44 AM
schlotz
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


OSX vs MS and Canon vs Nikon, there are some similarities. Both can and do get the job done. Once you start down a path you tend to stay with it. Be it for familiarity, what you have financially invested with it, etc...
The reasons are there and logical, at least from a personal perspective. Some balk heavily at change, some explore a bit, others get bolder (which is not always a good approach).

A personal perspective: I started dealing with pc's back in the early 80's, first it was strictly IBM then onto MS DOS and finally windows. Built many pc's from scratch, continually upgrading and then building new as technology changed. Learn a lot, experienced a lot (not all good as some of you with similar paths can testify). After 30+ years, I decided to retire and said that's enough. I want something that just works and doesn't continually create the clutter I was constantly in. Started with my toe in the water with a macbook air, 3 months later a fully decked out iMac 27" arrived. The pc hasn't been turned on for 2 years. They might not be for everyone but they do work, and well. BTW: Apple customer support is amazing, can't say that about the other side of the fence. YMMV.

JMTC

Matt



Nov 22, 2015 at 10:36 AM
Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


Matt , thats pretty much my experience as well . although i didn't 'toe in the water' I just jumped in head first with my 27" iMac .
now my toe's are getting wet with a used 11" air as well



Nov 22, 2015 at 11:00 AM
ben egbert
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


I am sorry I upgraded to Win 10. It does not play nice with Spectraview and the desktop is not color managed and a message found at Microsoft says that was intentional to avoid a slow down of some sort.


Nov 22, 2015 at 12:04 PM
StillFingerz
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


ben egbert wrote:
I am sorry I upgraded to Win 10. It does not play nice with Spectraview and the desktop is not color managed and a message found at Microsoft says that was intentional to avoid a slow down of some sort.


Ben, 'color managed' please explain, are you eluding to calibration camera/screen/printer? I'll investigate, thanks!



Nov 22, 2015 at 12:30 PM
ben egbert
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


StillFingerz wrote:
Ben, 'color managed' please explain, are you eluding to calibration camera/screen/printer? I'll investigate, thanks!


It means it does not read or use the color profile embedded in the file. With Win 7, I could save my backgrounds and screensavers with the calibration profile and see it as it appears in print or in Photoshop. Now even if I save with sRGB embedded it does not read or display properly. The viewer works ok, because it is color managed, but not wallpaper or screensaver.

I just downloaded a Spectraview update and the "read me" had lots of bug fixes for various video cards, drivers, calibration devices etc. One was a situation where the screen goes blank because it is waiting for Spectraview to load but could not because other items were not finished. It was advised to delay the loading. This could explain the blank screen I got a few days back after a fresh boot. I had to unplug the computer to get a good boot.

It could be argued that some of the problem is Spectraview. but from my standpoint, Spectraview offers a richer viewing environment that is not supported well by Win 10. I am sure it will all get sorted out, but in the meantime. if you use Spectraview or do profiling Win 10 is lamer than Win 7.

I never used Win 8 and had thought Win 10 was a cleaner version of 8.



Nov 22, 2015 at 01:10 PM
StillFingerz
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


Thanks All

@ Ian, it's a Dell Alienware 15 R2, as for a touch screen, with my disability 'reach' issues I don't benefit much from it's use; my balance sucks, pinch movements are pretty tough with still fingers! The 4K option might be useful but my budget isn't huge and more RAM and an SSD are higher priorities. As are a Canon 6D, 24-70 f4L IS and 100-400 II; perhaps a new printer as well

Alienware has something like a docking station; their graphics accelerator, it will let me setup external monitors and a wireless keyboard/mouse and with a single plug turns the laptop into a semi-desktop With this setup I can later move to dual 4K monitors; touch or not, as features are graphics card based and it can hold two cards; everything is USB 3 or faster on both laptop and GA.

As for the Mac vs. Windows issue, both are great systems, we are a Windows shop; have customer support requirements that drive choice ATM. Our only Apple product to date is an iPhone and it pairs with an Android phone/tablet for support issues, but we are looking at the iPad and iMac; the iPad/iMac when we retire...

@ Jools, with both XP and Win7 laptops/desktops at hand I'm inclined to just bite the bullet and get Windows 10 Pro, try it out, ride out the bug fixes, try MS's 'New Technology' There are will be 'future' customer support issues to manage; they are asking, and it just seems logical to go with a lappy and 10 for portability; although the 15R2 ins't a light weight beast! BTW, there's a 24-70 in my Canon refurb cart, I just have to pull the trigger; things have gotten strange healthwise so I've not emailed you yet, but will soon, apologies

...

Thanks folks for your replies, I'll post my experiences; good, bad or fugly with Windows 10

Cheers,
Jerry



Nov 22, 2015 at 01:13 PM
StillFingerz
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


ben egbert wrote:
It means it does not read or use the color profile embedded in the file. With Win 7, I could save my backgrounds and screensavers with the calibration profile and see it as it appears in print or in Photoshop. Now even if I save with sRGB embedded it does not read or display properly. The viewer works ok, because it is color managed, but not wallpaper or screensaver.

I just downloaded a Spectraview update and the "read me" had lots of bug fixes for various video cards, drivers, calibration devices etc. One was a situation where the screen goes
...Show more

Thanks Ben, I don't use Spectraview, do use an old Spider3 setup which will be upgraded; haven't decided on what just yet tho.... I'm a pretty simple photographer, not too exacting like yourself and many FM'ers, may get there one day but by then Win10 could be but a past memory



Nov 22, 2015 at 01:18 PM
ben egbert
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


StillFingerz wrote:
Thanks Ben, I don't use Spectraview, do use an old Spider3 setup which will be upgraded; haven't decided on what just yet tho.... I'm a pretty simple photographer, not too exacting like yourself and many FM'ers, may get there one day but by then Win10 could be but a past memory


I use an Xrite that is specifically made for Nec. My monitor was high end 8 years ago and due for replacement. But I can see that Win 10 is not built for photographic purposes, at least not for color accuracy.

If you don't calibrate, it probably does not matter.Since I am not a Mac user, I probably have to live with it because I doubt my next computer will be Win 7 and I suspect Win 11 will not be color managed because of Microsofts policy.

From the earliest days or PC's, late 1970's, Macs were always known for better graphics/color. But business users always went Microsoft.



Nov 22, 2015 at 01:27 PM
StillFingerz
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


ben egbert wrote:
I use an Xrite that is specifically made for Nec. My monitor was high end 8 years ago and due for replacement. But I can see that Win 10 is not built for photographic purposes, at least not for color accuracy.

If you don't calibrate, it probably does not matter.Since I am not a Mac user, I probably have to live with it because I doubt my next computer will be Win 7 and I suspect Win 11 will not be color managed because of Microsofts policy.

From the earliest days or PC's, late 1970's, Macs were always known for
...Show more

Ben, my first Mac was called LISA First Apple a II in 1976 , but in 1980 it was MS-DOS, later Windows that paid my bills, still does. Once I retire, ten yrs from now, I'll have more free time for photography/printing and I'll probably make the jump to Apple and Epson, try and exploit the finer aspects of photography



Nov 22, 2015 at 01:46 PM
Greg Campbell
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


In what manner is W7 lacking?
I can't seem W10 being any faster or better for general post processing activities.

Be it software or the latest camera body, it's not an 'update' unless it includes _significant_ improvements!



Nov 22, 2015 at 05:02 PM
StillFingerz
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


Greg Campbell wrote:
In what manner is W7 lacking?
I can't seem W10 being any faster or better for general post processing activities.

Be it software or the latest camera body, it's not an 'update' unless it includes _significant_ improvements!


Nothing...except for customer support issues, current in my SO's shop and future for my support and design/programming. We have XP, Vista and Win7 machines and they are support related and personal, and I'm looking to try out the future. If wanted I can always sans Win10 and move to Win7. In fact the XP laptop I'm currently using will be upgraded to Win7 after the new laptop is vetted

I'm not interested in just PP activities, those are personal as is my photography. This serves my business needs as well and is just another layer for support. That said I posted here to gather info and got some great replies from FMers that I PM quite often, and from others with very valid points/concerns!.

Windows 7 is quite good, we'll see how 10 fares
Cheers,
Jerry



Nov 22, 2015 at 09:20 PM
beauport
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


dhphoto wrote:
I'm on Win7 and it's by far the best Windows OS I have used. It's fast and stable and still runs my old versions of Office etc

I tried three times to do the windows 10 online upgrade they push at us constantly and it hung the pc three times so I gave up, I haven't therefore tried win 10 but I do know from friends it's much better than Win 8 as Ian says. Whether it will run the older programs I need will be the factor as to whether I upgrade


+ 1 also using Win 7 and will probably continue until there is a compelling reason to change.




Nov 22, 2015 at 10:07 PM
Paul Mo
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


beauport wrote:
+ 1 also using Win 7 and will probably continue until there is a compelling reason to change.



Same here - been through 8 and 10 and reverted back to good ol' 7,



Nov 23, 2015 at 04:08 AM
Alan321
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


It is said that Windows 10 is more robust internally than older versions but I cannot quantify that at all. For me, Windows 8.1 was ok because it could be made to not look like Windows 8.0. Windows 10 is much the same. However, users of Windows XP probably won't be happy with anything except Windows XP

Whichever Windows you choose, I recommend that you get the 64-bit version for greater performance and capability, and the Pro version so that you can utilise Bitlocker encryption and virtual disks for personal data security and ease of backups.

Once you start using encryption there are complications with backups because by default the backups are not encrypted. For me that sort of defeats the purpose. There is a way around it but it is fiddly.

By using virtual disks I get three main advantages:
1. I can back up an unopened virtual disk as I would any other single file and the backup is still encrypted. The drive is not encrypted; just the virtual disk that is stored on it.
2. It backs up faster too, compared with copying many thousands of small files.
3. I can have the Lr catalogue, previews and settings stored inside the virtual disk with the photos so that should I ever want to use a separate catalogue for whatever reason (in another virtual disk) then it won't automatically get the keyword list, labels, etc., of the main catalogue. This lets me keep the two libraries and catalogues completely separate. If that wasn't the aim then I'd stick with a single catalogue and library.

- Alan



Nov 23, 2015 at 10:08 AM
Jman13
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · What next, Win7, Win8.1 or Windows10?


Well, I'm one who loves Win10. I find it to be significantly faster and more streamlined under the hood than Windows 7 ever was. For finding things, just use the cortana search box and it will bring you to most any setting you'd want.


Nov 23, 2015 at 03:36 PM
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