mossgate Loc: Phoenix, AZ

I was so happy to receive my Olympus E-M1 today. Received a lens and Lightroom 5 yesterday. Thought I was ready to download Lightroom update 5.3 and start on this new adventure into raw and HDR. Oh no........

Got Windows XP? Then forget it! Wrong graphics card? Then forget it! When you talk about cutting edge.....well,....I think I won't say what I'm thinking.

I know, Windows XP is not going to be supported anymore but all my work for years has been done with it. All my peripherals that I use to do my work may or may not work with a new system. And as long as I keep using my old stuff things keep on working regardless......at least for a while longer.

All this angst because of a new camera. Who would have thought.

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

Windows XP !?..... :lol: ...Sorry ! :roll: 8-)
Windows 3.1 was a good one too :thumbup:

Frosty Loc: Minnesota

I agree, Windows 3.1 worked. Microsoft should go back to that and upgrade it for some of these newer applications and support it.

busted_shutter

We could always go back to DOS...maybe punchcards?? :-D

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

DOS is still there ...just got Windows as an overlay which Bill stole from Jobs..who stole it from ...I forget now....:)

The nice thing about XP is it was simple to install and run any previous stuff you had from your previous versions of Win.
Now they just flash you the "end of life" message and only Geeks can get things to work when it gets complicated....so much for user friendly......."if you spend money everybody gets friendly" lol

djtravels Loc: Georgia boy now

You might consider Win7, It might support your other software, but I'm fighting against Win8 and I know you can still get Win7.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

You will have to give up XP eventually. Might as well accept it.

I just loaded Win 7 on my spare desk top and it works great. The computer is seven years old. Don't miss XP.

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

Got Windows XP? Then forget it! Wrong graphics card? Then forget it! When you talk about cutting edge.....well,....I think I won't say what I'm thinking.

bought LR a few weeks ago, couldn't get it to load on my xp machine, thought it was bad and returned it. Glad to learn it wasn't because i was doing something dumb.

mossgate Loc: Phoenix, AZ

Joer

Thanks for your reply.

Looks like I, too, will need to use a second computer with Windows 7 for my Olympus camera work. I don't want to lose my old set up yet. Too many old applications that still work well for the kind of work that I presently do.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

That is not as far-fetched as it seems. Sometimes when uninstalling a Win application, even with a factory uninstall, not all the files will be deleted - and trying to delete them individually or in a group can really be a pain. Enter DOS! Make a list of the files to be deleted and delete them with DEL or DELTREE. Five more key keystrokes and you're back to a cleaner nicer Win!

busted_shutter

Didn't realize you could still access dos. Would make it easier to format the hd.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Go to a command prompt and type in "command"; you should get a DOS prompt (C:\?????). Be very careful what you remove!!! Type "win" or "exit" at the root DOS prompt (depending on version of DOS) to return to windows; some earlier versions of Windows will ONLY start from the root prompt (C:\); newer versions have a start-up command which will return you to the root prompt from anywhere on the disk. I strongly urge returning to the root prompt before restarting Windows. If you format the HD under DOS, however, you will have to reinstall Windows from the start. I do NOT recall how to partition a HD in DOS and therefore recommend partitioning and formatting with Windows. One last point: do not assume that having a newer version of Windows (pre Win 7) will guarantee that you have a newer version of DOS; older versions of dos with service packs were capable of running Windows ME, XP and Vista if properly configured. I believe that Win 7 required a compatible version of DOS. And DOS is there whether you see it or not!

GreenReaper

While we are looking at punch cards, why not go all the and use an abacus, or maybe even a finger or two? Just kidding, keep smiling :)

lukan Loc: Chicago, IL

After you upgrade the software, or your whole computer, you'll know you have one of the finest picture taking machines in the EM-1 that exists on this planet. In the meantime, even the ooc jpegs are tremendous, so enjoy the heck out of that little beast! I know I just love mine.

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

Just for your info, DOS was purchase by Gates from Mercury Software for the measly price of $50,000 outright. Mercury was failing and didn't realize the value of their invention in the PC market. Gates was in negotiations with IBM to supply an OS but needed DOS to complete the system. Go figure...

If you're really into digital photography, then the new graphics GPUs, CPU/APUs, storage media speeds and reliability and memory speeds and increased amounts have all made post processing of photos faster, easier, and more accurate as far as resolutions are concerned. With the advancements in quantity and quality of pixels and DSP chips in modern DSLR cameras, the old XP programs, computers and VGA displays just don't hack it.

Once you upgrade to 12 Mpixel sensors and more, the files generated for RAW photos start to become very large and time consuming for processing with old 32 bit antiquated systems. Unfortunately the OS systems from Microsoft have been sometimes unstable and new peripherals have advanced through USB upgrades which older machines just can't handle adequately.

Computer systems typically have a 5 to 10 year life expectancy depending on the software and hardware improvement you install.The implementation of 64 bit OS and CPU design immediately doubled processing capabilities and throughput. But, you just can't expect old MOBOs to be able to process or accept the new USB 3.0 or PCI EXPRESS video cards if they have old 640 MHz clocked CPUs and bus speeds or only have ATA/PATA HDD capabilities.

You really need to look at the side panel of software to see what minimum system requirements are absolutely needed before making your purchase or you're just wasting your money. And typically, software is not returnable once opened.