Microsoft unveils Windows 7 prices

[veebee]

Hey, Simone was only talking about editing photos.. and the fact that the price of a Mac (which she wanted FOR editing photos) was prohibitive... so I suggested a cost effective alternative for most people.... sorry.

[miw]

<off topic>Well I have to play devils advocate here. My design staff and I have always used Photoshop because that was the flagship standard. Without exception, we now all prefer to use GIMP. It is faster, simpler, has MORE options and I can generally do things in half the time in GIMP than I can in Photoshop. Plus a few things in GIMP that I have never worked out how to do in Photoshop.

All new computers at work now get GIMP installed instead of Photoshop, and we are saving thousands in license fees.

</off topic>

Not really off-topic, because I see Win vs. Linux and Photoshop vs. GIMP being the same argument. Basically, despite the difference in price of the tools, it is often still cheaper to use the tools you know.

And to be perfectly fair, I have never heard anyone who knows both Photoshop and GIMP say there was anything significant they could do in Photoshop they couldn't do in GIMP (or vice versa for that matter). But they all also say that the philosophies of the two tools are different and that switching over is not trivial. Neither tool, t would seem, is particularly intuitive! (Possibly because they are both so powerful.) I certainly find Photoshop highly non-intuitive.

If you are editing photos for your own use, I'd say there is no need for either Photoshop or GIMP. I have been editing my photos quite happily in Photoshop Elements for years, and it costs a fraction of what Photoshop costs, and, as others have pointed out, there are other tools that are even cheaper and easier to use that do the job. I hear nice things about Picasa, for example. And, of course, if you can drive the GIMP, then you'll never need anything else. Had I found out about GIMP before I bought PSE back in about 2001, I'd probably be using it myself right now.

--Mark

[Simone]

Ahhh software & hardware for photo editing two different things.
All depends on what level your photography is.

Average jo blow who takes the odd family snap shot, really wouldn't give a rats but the semi / pro photographer
where it does matter is another thing.

Software personal choice, but the standard for the game is Photoshop. Submitting to mags, printing etc all use Photoshop
Hardware, Apple MacBook Pro is the preferred choice, because of the NVIDIA graphics combine with a vivid LED-backlit display.
Now its starting to get into the tech side of things, & way off topic lol

[veebee]

back on the topic of windows 7 (though not necessarily the price..), I have just tried (for the 7th time) to burn an install disc of the Release Candidate of Win7 x64.

each time, I have downloaded a fresh image... and each time i then use Nero to "burn image to disc"....

it burns OK and if I look on the disk there are about (from memory) three or so folders and a "setup" file.

This time wa smuch the same as the others except i "fiddled" a bit more to try to see if I coul dget it to work/ see what was going on...

with the Win7 disc in the drive, it gets to "boot from CD" and just hangs there.. with flashing curser... but if I put my XP Pro install disc in there... it starts up as normal.

This time I even went to a recovery console so I could use a command prompt to cd over to D drive, then run the disc.. but it wouldn't let me open the drive...

so I stuck another one in there (and disconnected the original) , inserted Win 7 disc and could "read it", but could not run the setup file... "setup" was not a recognised command....


So, what am I doing SOOOO wrong between downloading the iso and putting it in my DVD drive to install it.... tonight I will try to download ( I THINK I saw an) the "executable file, (as opposed to an iso).


But to be safe... BF, could you please mail the copy you mentioned?

thanks mate,

[kashi]

Hey veebee,

I installed Win 7 64 from a 4GB Corsair Voyager USB stick using UltraIso and it worked very well. I don't have a DVD burner so this was my easiest option. If you have a USB stick 4GB or larger you could try this method if you wish:
www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html

Then just install it:
www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

[miw]

Veebee,

this might be a message coming from wherever saying not to get caught up in the W7 situation. :-)

More seriously, the main difference I can see between XP and W7 is that W7 is a DVD and XP is a CD. My experience is that DVD burning/reading is much dodgier than CDs. I seem never to be able to get a DVD drive work properly for burning and reading for more than a year or maybe 18 months. I am forever tossing out DVD burners.

Did you do a verify pass when you burned the DVDs?

--Mark

[Furlozza]

Veebs

Alternatively, you could run down to your local newsagent and buy the September edition of PG Authority. They have W7 on their monthly disc. Might save a whole lot of burning/pulling/anger. Oh and less than $10.

(Don't know what game they are featuring this month though.)

[veebee]

this might be a message coming from wherever saying not to get caught up in the W7 situation. :-)

I'm beginning to wonder if it's something like that  myself....  but it's only gonna be a temporary thing... while the credit is good at AQUA etc. Plus it leaves me a win x64 option when OTHER projects do the "same thing" (cedit ridiculously higher on one OS than another).
Must say though, it IS paying good on the XP 32 bit machines...

Did you do a verify pass when you burned the DVDs?

--Mark

No... I guess I'm too eager and have that switched off ... though if the burn is RS.. the result will still be the same..

[miw]

but you will *know* the burn is RS (or that your burner can't read DVDs properly). It's happened to me, and I have on occasion created a coaster setting for 6....  :hbang:

If it verifies OK and you still can't boot from it, then it is a problem of a different colour and a whole different world of frustration...

--Mark

[veebee]

@MIW: I guess you're right... I USED to always verify any burn... back when there were only CD's.. and 4X was really "fast"...

so its probably a wise thing to have "verify" checked, when they're burning at 5 times that speed now.

[miw]

For another outrageous pricing situation, look at the US Adobe shop and see how much CS4 Web Premium costs: US$1600 or about A$2000. In the Australia shop it is A$3500 or so. And the US shop won't accept Australian credit cards (although it can be fooled into doing so.)

grr.....

--Mark