SportsShooter.com - MacBook Pro and Windows XP: Best Option?

	Galveston / Houston \| TX \| US \| Posted: 6:20 PM on 10.24.07
	->> Your Photo Mechanic serial number will work on both Windows and Mac OS X with no additional fees or trouble. Simply type your existing serial number into the Mac version and you're good to go. I agree, take full advantage of your new Macbook Pro and ditch XP for your photo applications.

Duane Burleson, Photographer

Sterling Heights | MI | USA | Posted: 6:23 PM on 10.24.07

->> Russ,

I use a MacBook 2ghz with boot camp and Windows XP and have for nine months. It's a great setup and has been problem free. I've booted into OS X maybe a dozen times or so just to make sure its software is up to date. But other than that it XP all the time. (And for those who will suggest I upgrade my software to Mac stuff, no thanks, I'm not spending $2,500+ to upgrade all my applications - photoshop, image browser, video editor, quickbooks, etc.)

If you have any question feel free to ask.

Duane

Lee Love, Photographer

Herndon | VA | US | Posted: 6:47 PM on 10.24.07

->> Duane do you also use Pentax lens on your camera ?

Sorry to disagree but I can't see why anyone would willingly run XP on a Mac. Its fine for those few apps that you can't find for the mac but ignoring the stability and robust features of osx is just plain silly.

This logic reminds me of the guys who go out and buy 1DS or D2x and put cheap glass on it.

Russ its just another opinion but if you decide to take Duanes approach I would suggest you save your money and get a Dell.

Walter Calahan, Photographer

Westminster | MD | USA | Posted: 7:23 PM on 10.24.07

->> Lee, Pentax makes great glass! But I understand your allusion. Wish you said Tamron 'cause my heart still in love with my very first SLR, a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic II. SWEET!

Duane, 2500+ to update software. You own some expensive stuff!!! A new version of Quickbook Pro cost $199.

Russ, welcome to the Macintosh / Windows fight. Kind of like the C / N fight we all read about till Full Frame appeared in the N world. HA!

Lee Love, Photographer

	Herndon \| VA \| US \| Posted: 7:32 PM on 10.24.07
	->> Walter you are right I actually started to use Sigma or Tamaron. :) A spotmatic was my first camera as well. hehe

Russ Isabella, Photographer

Salt Lake City | UT | USA | Posted: 8:21 PM on 10.24.07

->> With one foot now squarely in each camp, I guess there's no way for me to avoid running into "the fight." I hear those of you recommending that I go fully into the Mac OS world, while Duane speaks favorably of using his MacBook almost exclusively as a Windows system. I'll assume Duane is using BootCamp. There may come a day when I work only in MacWorld, but for now, I'm in transition mode and planning to use Photoshop CS3 within Windows. Any others with experience using BootCamp, Parallels or Fusion?

Walter, Lee, Kevin and Duane, thank you for sharing your views. Lee....pretty convincing!

Lee Love, Photographer

	Herndon \| VA \| US \| Posted: 9:02 PM on 10.24.07
	->> Russ maybe I am confused and I would appreciate you helping me out on this one. Why would you buy a Macbook and not use it as a Mac ? If you just want to run Windows there a 1000 machines out there that will do that. What am I missing ?

Ben Mackey, Photographer, Assistant

Columbia | MD | USA | Posted: 9:38 PM on 10.24.07

->> Lee - well, PC World says Apple makes the fastest Windows laptops, bar none. If course, that is a 17 incher, not Russ' 15" but still, there are reasons to buy Apple only for Windows use. Cost arguments are out of date, if you configure machines similarly, prices will be close (with Apple frequently cheaper). Apple just doesn't have any entry level $ 600 laptops to compare to the cheapest boxes out there.

Russ - You're correct about your options. Suggest you wait until after this weekend and see what the initial reviews (as opposed to the PR hype) say about Leopard and XP. If you want to cut and paste between OS and XP, Fusion or Parallels are the way to go (today - Friday?). Since they cost about the same thing, research their features some and see which would work best for you.

Russ Isabella, Photographer

Salt Lake City | UT | USA | Posted: 9:50 PM on 10.24.07

->> Lee: If one of us is confused, I'm thinking it's not you. :)

A number of things have led to my purchase of the MBPro.

1. It was time for me to buy a new laptop.
2. I wanted something that would meet my needs as a photographer.
3. I've read quite a bit on this topic of laptops for photographers and been convinced that the 2.4Ghz, 15: MacBook Pro is arguably the best choice out there for photographers, even if running Windows on it.
4. My university employer offered what I thought was an excellent 1-day sale price on the 15" 2.4Ghz MBPro, and it was the one day of the year that, for whatever reason, Apple products are tax free (amounted to almost a $400 savings).

I know enough to believe the Apple OS has something to offer, and I'll explore that. At the same time, I understand I can use Photoshop as a Windows application, which I'm familiar with. (It's only today that I learned I can use the Mac version of Photo Mechanic with the same license I have for my Windows version. This is great news.) This gives me a lot to work with, what I see as the best of both worlds. For now. If Adobe will swap my Windows Photoshop for Mac, I'm all for that.

So, in my mind, I didn't buy a MacBook Pro with the intention of not using it as a Mac. I bought it because I had reason to believe it's a great piece of hardware that will serve me well, allow me to use software I already own, and, presumably, open new horizons.

I appreciate your questions because they help me to think this through.

Wes Hope, Photographer

Maryville | TN | USA | Posted: 11:10 PM on 10.24.07

->> Lee wrote:
"I know Adobe will do a cross upgrade so if you have a Windows version they will swap it for a Mac version."

Any idea how one does this? I've heard of this before, but it seems like urban legend. I can't find anything on Adobe's site. So to save me what will probably be a long drawn out hold session on the phone, do you have a direct link or instructions on how to do this?

Thanks.

Lee Love, Photographer

	Herndon \| VA \| US \| Posted: 11:41 PM on 10.24.07
	->> Russ thanks that does make sense and I can see why you jumped on a good deal. Thanks for the claification. Wes I have never personally done the cross upgrade but a quick Google search turned up this. http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bc79355 It looks like you call adobe and pay for shipping and they will send you a box of Mac DVD's. Obviously you have to disable your Windows serial number.

Brian Resac, Photographer, Assistant

Loves Park | IL | United States | Posted: 12:56 AM on 10.25.07

->> I can confirm that it's indeed possible to make the switch from PC to Mac with Adobe CS3. I had my PC laptop stolen last spring and took that as a message from above to make the big switch. One phone call to Adobe and a couple day wait for the package to arrive and I was good to go. It was a pretty painless experience.

I wish I would have switched sooner because life with my Mac has been blissful for this lifetime Microsoft user. The change barely cost me any money at all.

Wes Hope, Photographer

	Maryville \| TN \| USA \| Posted: 1:07 AM on 10.25.07
	->> Thanks Lee and Brian. I was using the wrong keywords on my search I guess. I'll definitely have to go this route when I make the switch. I just hope they'll do the same for Lightroom (I'm sure what works for a $600 product should for one half the price).

Russ Isabella, Photographer

	Salt Lake City \| UT \| USA \| Posted: 3:22 PM on 10.26.07
	->> Anyone with experience with Parallels or Fusion?

Robert Redmond, Photographer

	Foster City \| CA \| USA \| Posted: 1:37 AM on 10.29.07
	->> I'm about ready to plunge into an MBP as well but my desktop is XP. IIRC Adobe allows an install on 2 machines with one license key.... dilemma since my portable will be a MAC and desktop XP?

Jim Sykes, Photographer

Montgomery Village | Md | | Posted: 12:10 PM on 10.29.07

->> Russ, I did the cross platform upgrade on Photoshop not too long ago.

You need to CALL Adobe though, they do not advertise it anywhere on their website.

If you already use the current version, they will charge you something like $25 for the cds and shipping. If you are using an older version, you just pay the normal upgrade price and you will get a full version on the new platform.

They will make you sign a document stating you will destroy the old copy and fax it to them before they ship you the new copy, but its pretty painless in the end.

Call them.

I do use Parallels, but its for much lighter programs than Photoshop so I cant vouch for how well it performs for heavy programs such as that. For basic things it works great and is very stable and quick.

Good luck.

Jim Sykes, Photographer

Montgomery Village | Md | | Posted: 12:18 PM on 10.29.07

->> Robert, you will not be able to do that. When they send you the new copy they make you sign a form stating you will destroy the old PC version before they will send you a copy on Mac.

You can ask them about that, but from the steps I had to take it would not be legally possible.

That said, and I never condone any illegal use of software, they dont actually verify you destroyed the old copy and if its an older version of PS that didnt phone home like CS3 does, you can probably continue to use it for a time. I'm not sure what would happen with CS3 as I know its much more controlled.

Heck, I had a MBP need to be returned when I first got one and had already loaded my second install of CS3 onto it. When I tried to load it onto the replacement MBP it wouldnt let me saying I had already exhausted my two installs. I had to call Adobe and explain to them over the course of two and a half hours what happened and that I still only owned two computers and would only use it on two computers.

I'd say call and talk to them Robert and see what options they have for you.

Russ Isabella, Photographer

	Salt Lake City \| UT \| USA \| Posted: 12:55 PM on 10.29.07
	->> Thanks for the useful info, Jim. It's splitting hairs, but if Adobe allows CS3 to be installed on two computers, I wonder if they'd allow one each on a Windows and a Mac system. I ask this simply because I can't destroy my PC verion because I need to keep it on my desktop. I suppose I'll be contacting Adobe.

Dennis Wierzbicki, Photographer

Plainfield | IL | USA | Posted: 1:42 PM on 10.29.07

->> Russ,

I am an OLD (in many ways) Mac fan, back to even having a Lisa computer in 1983, however last year a company I was working for bought me a laptop, as they had some proprietary and ancient DOS and Windows programs that required I run non-Mac on my laptop.

So, I bought a MacBook and Parallels. With almost no exceptions, Parallels ran Windows faster than anything I have ever used, and all programs ran fine, including DOS (OMG, how awful THAT was!).

I haven't used Fusion yet, but you can check out this story:

http://www.macworld.com/2007/09/reviews/vmwarefusion/index.php

I am 100% in agreement that you'll want to run as many applications under Mac OS as you can, providing you can do so and still minimize the expense of doing so.

I'm not sure I understand you comment: "I ask this simply because I can't destroy my PC verion because I need to keep it on my desktop." Keep WHAT on your desktop? A program is a program. Why should it matter if the shortcut to the program is on your Mac desktop or your Windows desktop?

Also, if/when you get Leopard, you are not going to believe how useful and slick it is.

Oh yeah, welcome to the world of Mac's!

Russ Isabella, Photographer

Salt Lake City | UT | USA | Posted: 11:45 PM on 10.29.07

->> Dennis: Thanks for your personal info. regarding Parallels, and that link to a review of Fusion (which looks very promising).

I did pick up Leopard as part of the deal, but haven't installed it yet. I've just been slowly introducing myself to the Mac system. I installed Photo Mechanic and had no problem running a few hundred photo files through it. So far so good...

What I was trying to say about my PC version is that I have no intention of removing it from my desktop if that's what's required to be able to have Adobe allow me to run it on my laptop. I'll give them a call tomorrow.

Robert Catto, Photographer

	Wellington \| NZ \| New Zealand \| Posted: 12:41 AM on 10.30.07
	->> Russ, I'll be interested to hear what they say about that, I'm about to be in the same situation - my laptop's just died, and I'd like the next one to be a MacBook Pro, but there's no way I can upgrade my XP-based server / Photoshop machine as well for another year or so. Keep us posted! R

Russ Isabella, Photographer

Salt Lake City | UT | USA | Posted: 11:59 AM on 10.30.07

->> Reporting back....

I spoke with someone at Adobe. As others have mentioned, if you are changing platforms, in this case from Windows to Mac, and you will no longer be using PS on your Windows computer(s), Adobe will send you the discs you'll need to load the software onto your Mac system--you pay the shipping costs.

What I asked: I'm running PS CS3 on my Windows desktop. My individual user license allows me to load it onto a second computer, and that one's a Mac. How do I go about that?

Her response: The individual license is platform specific. If you want to load PS onto a different platform, you must buy PS for that platform.

So, no way to buy the software once, then load and run it on both a Windows and Mac platform (though of course the Boot Camp, Parallels and Fusion options are available). That may have been common knowledge to the masses, but I thought it was worth inquiring about.

Jim Sykes, Photographer

Montgomery Village | Md | | Posted: 1:07 PM on 10.30.07

->> One thought for you guys in mid-switch.

Evaluate how much serious photoshop work you will do on your laptop as it sounds like you do the majority of your work on your desktop systems.

If all you are using it for is basic color adjustment and sharpening, then you may want to go with something like Photoshop Elements or even something like Lightroom or Aperture on your Mac laptop.

These will give you all the basic adjustments you may need and are much less expensive than buying a new version of CS3 and will give you most of those basic adjustments you may need.

I too use my desktop system for all my major editing (I just dont like doing anything major on a laptop screen and even the fastest MBPs are still slower than my Mac Pro) so my laptop is mainly used for minor editing and sorting to get photos out quickly from onsite when needed.

For this I have started using Aperture as all the basic adjustments are available right there in the browser and allow for sorting and minor editing quickly and simply. I do have PS on my laptop but rarely open it any longer. There is nothing I use PS on my laptop for that I couldnt use Elements for.

When I get home anything that needs major work and Photoshop can be done on my desktop.

Anyway, just an idea if you do not use PS heavily on the laptop. You could get a much less expensive program to get you by for a bit till you are able to switch completely and get a cross platform upgrade from Adobe.

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