Before you upgrade to Lightroom 4...

[Neeneko]

Windows 8 might be out soon.  Just saying.

And a lot of people will ignore it just like they did Vista and 7.

[dirtcastle]

Just curious... are people using XP for financial reasons or personal preference?

[Neeneko]

Just curious... are people using XP for financial reasons or personal preference?

I think most people that are using XP are doing so because upgrading does not actually get them much.  While some people love getting new OSes, most people only upgrade when either (a) the get a new computer or (b) some bit of hardware or software only works with a newer version.  The OS itself rarely offers anything all that compelling or better functioning then earlier versions since most people tend to use them as little more then application launchers and file browsers.

[Jamesy]

Just curious... are people using XP for financial reasons or personal preference?

In some cases it can be the result of compatibility reasons. My main system is a corporate laptop running XP and I can't change it as some corporate software will cease to run, while my home systems have either Vista or Win7. As I said, I do not have the option of upgrading my main laptop so I will stick with LR3 for now.

[EYEONE]

Windows 8 might be out soon.  Just saying.

And a lot of people will ignore it just like they did Vista and 7.

People hardly ignored Windows 7. Windows 7 is the best version of Windows MS has released yet.

[Kernuak]

Just curious... are people using XP for financial reasons or personal preference?

In some cases it can be the result of compatibility reasons. My main system is a corporate laptop running XP and I can't change it as some corporate software will cease to run, while my home systems have either Vista or Win7. As I said, I do not have the option of upgrading my main laptop so I will stick with LR3 for now.

Many large corporations are very conservative and slow to change, even if there is no evidence of potential conflicts and incompatibilities. Sometimes it is to the extent of risking security issues.

[TexPhoto]

At work, we upgraded to XP from Win 2K middle of last year.

At home, I use a Mac, and keep up with the adjustments.  When I bought CS5 they offered Lightroom for an extra $100.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

There are a lot of XP users out there, and some times, it is the only software that works. 

For example, Canon has XP drivers for firewire and the 1D MK II / 1DS MK II, etc.  They have dropped this support for later software versions, so you cannot use the firewire port to set the personal camera settings, or to tether the cameras and use remote release.  There are USB drivers, so you can connect and download images, but some features require the firewire connection.  There are lots of peoplle who buy a used MK II only to discover that their nice new 64 bit windows 7 computer can't connect to the firewire port.

[Jamesy]

There are a lot of XP users out there, and some times, it is the only software that works. 

For example, Canon has XP drivers for firewire and the 1D MK II / 1DS MK II, etc.  They have dropped this support for later software versions, so you cannot use the firewire port to set the personal camera settings, or to tether the cameras and use remote release.  There are USB drivers, so you can connect and download images, but some features require the firewire connection.  There are lots of peoplle who buy a used MK II only to discover that their nice new 64 bit windows 7 computer can't connect to the firewire port.

I wonder if something like VMWare personal workstation version (I think this only runs on Win7), or whatever it is called, can get around this issue by launching a version of XP

[dirtcastle]

There are a lot of XP users out there, and some times, it is the only software that works. 

For example, Canon has XP drivers for firewire and the 1D MK II / 1DS MK II, etc.  They have dropped this support for later software versions, so you cannot use the firewire port to set the personal camera settings, or to tether the cameras and use remote release.  There are USB drivers, so you can connect and download images, but some features require the firewire connection.  There are lots of peoplle who buy a used MK II only to discover that their nice new 64 bit windows 7 computer can't connect to the firewire port.

For older, unsupported gear, it should be easy enough to get a used < $100 desktop that runs XP. This XP box would serve as an intermediary with a newer computer. Then you are freed up to do your post processing on a computer with a newer OS.

If you freeze all your software to accommodate one dying link in the chain... eventually the chain will break.

I'm just trying to offer practical thoughts on this issue (which I've defintely gone through myself).

Almost always, software provides very affordable workarounds for issues like these. VMWare is a good example.

[ippikiokami]

Does anyone know if it will maintain LR3 settings?  I have images that were edited with LR3 and I don't want to lose those same settings.  I don't want to import my library and then realize that the adjustments made to those images are totally fouled up. 

Thank you for any responses in advance

Hey! So i just upgraded my catalog and here is what i've seen.
It keeps all your edit settings... In fact! It doesn't even enable the new sliders until you press an exclamation mark on the corner of the picture. I was about to pull my hair out trying to figure out where all these new adjustment sliders in the brush were until I just was looking around and saw the small exclamation mark. After you do that the new sliders pop up but the adjustments from I've seen stick
 

[Invertalon]

I just installed LR4 and was able to import my LR3 and LR4 Beta Catalogs with no problem. Kept all my editing and such as well. 

On the plus side, it seems to work faster then the Beta... Thankfully... With the sliders and such.

[Jamesy]

I have not done the jump myself but there is a thread on FM that mentions some issues with Tone Curves:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1092153/0#lastmessage

A PM was sent to me on another forum stating:
To paraphrase: it seems that LR4 does not import Tone curves properly when upgrading a LR3 catalog to LR4. Photos with Tone Curve adjustments will look different in LR4 even if you don't employ the "2012 process".

This is something you may want to be aware of when upgrading.

[Isurus]

I have not done the jump myself but there is a thread on FM that mentions some issues with Tone Curves:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1092153/0#lastmessage

A PM was sent to me on another forum stating:
To paraphrase: it seems that LR4 does not import Tone curves properly when upgrading a LR3 catalog to LR4. Photos with Tone Curve adjustments will look different in LR4 even if you don't employ the "2012 process".

This is something you may want to be aware of when upgrading.

Thanks for that link.  I suspected there may be some glitches with the import of LR3 catalogs since we couldn't actually  test the functionality with the beta.  I'm holding off on upgrading until they have that bug free.

[Marsu42]

Before you upgrade to LR4 final be aware that the auto tone algorithm changed from the beta and is complete crap! It doesn't just bring your pictures to a common base you can then work on and batch-apply to, but it somehow tries to use all PV2012 sliders and the results are just awful.

Has anyone figured out how to get back to the good ol' autotone of LR3 and LR4 beta?