Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

One more note, are you aware that when Nik Collection was first offered, people paid over $350 for it? I personally paid $250 to Google, just a few months before it went to free. I have enjoyed it tremendously and have absolutely gotten my money's worth and don't have any hard feelings towards any company.

If you are familiar with other free editing software, you should already know what a fantastic deal you got. Be thankful for all your free years and just consider your "unnecessary" purchase a lesson to check more closely next time. But also, maybe you will have the last laugh! Maybe when DxO does make major changes, you will be upgraded for free or at a price far less than what new customers will be charged.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

I am pretty sure they have a game plan for future enhancements. But like an old fixer-upper house, you have to make sure the foundations and footings are solid, and the roof doesn't leak, and there are no structural issues inside. After taking care of all the "behind the scenes" stuff - the house will look no different than it did before the problems were addressed.

For the impatient people out there - Nik wrote the software in 1995 and continued to develop features and functionality. In 2012 Google bought it and did nothing with it, and held onto it for 5 yrs. In the meantime the industry marched forward, innovating with cameras, lenses, and other editing software. DXO took on quite a task - to fix what amounted to "outdated code" with a series of re-writes rather than patches. it is the right approach, but it takes a while to go through 10000s of lines of code, write and test repairs in house, then alpha test repairs with a small select group of users, then beta test it with a larger group, then release it for general consumption. To expect all sorts of new bells and whistles to be added after having had only 9 months with the software is unrealistically optimistic, especially in light of the fact they are in bankruptcy.

If DXO survives its financial woes - they are reorganizing under Chapter 11 protection from creditors - they will continue to add value to an already good product.

All that is needed is patience, and users to stop complaining about lack of "new stuff" and about a fee. Paying the $50 or $70 is totally worth it, and will help ensure some degree of longevity. Without it, you can kiss it goodbye.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

DXO acquired software that had not been supported in any way for the last few years. Their initial release was a bug fix only, and I believe the current version will now only work on 64-bit machines. If you have an earlier free version that works for you without bugs you should hold on to it. The next version of the NIK Collection, probably around year-end or sometime thereafter, should contain enhancements to the functionality. The only reason it has been free for the last couple of years is because no work was done on it and no one has supported it. I think it's great that DXO has stepped up and perhaps now we will see some meaningful updates overtime to this already wonderful collection.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

jdkoerner Loc: New Yori

Ironically, it turns out that compatibility with windows has become a problem for me, with the latest windows update that was pushed this week. The HDR export function hangs up mid-way through the process with the Google version, something that does not happen with the DXO version. I attempted to turn back the update, but I don't think I was able to. I think that's what led me to the DXO version in the first place, although I still have the original free download exe file.

It was never about the money, which means of course it was about the money, but I felt that this was like a company buying the rights to a drug and then jacking the price up. At this point, after uninstalling and reinstalling and attempting to remove the update and being consistently unable to use the HDR export it's probably worth whatever I have to pay DXO to get the new version. Whatever the new applications that are similar to NIK can do I am too adept at NIK to want to abandon it. I probably do more editing in NIK than I do in LR anymore.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

DXO paid Google for the ownership of the NIK Collection, they didn't get it for free. They spent time and money allocating resources to it, and recompiled all the source code and addressed known bugs for the first time in years, and are actively requesting feedback and enhancement suggestions from users, via the DXO forum. Considering what NIK cost users to purchase before Google abandoned it, and the investment DXO is currently putting in to give it new life, the asking price is very reasonable. I would expect that if there are significant new enhancements in the next version the price will increase. Those who purchase now may reap the benefit of a lower upgrade price later.

However, for those whose free version is not exhibiting any bugs in their system, holding off until a major uograde is available may be a better and more cost effective approach. For those people still on 32 bit computers staying with the old version will be necessary since the DXO version is intended for 64 bit operating systems only

jdkoerner Loc: New Yori

The comment that DXO is facing bankruptcy makes me uneasy, and ironically I may buy it sooner rather than later if for no other reason than to obtain the key before it gets lost in the selling off of assets.

jburlinson Loc: Austin, TX

I got the DXO NIK a couple of months ago at the $49 price and am pretty pleased with it. I think I've read that some bugs have been fixed, especially in the HDR program; but I don't use HDR (yet), so I can't comment specifically. What is odd is that NIK plugins are not integrated into DXO Photolab. To use NIK, I have to go into LightRoom, create a TIFF file, and then edit using the NIK plugin from LR.

You'd think DXO would have the NIK plugins available through their own editing software, wouldn't you?

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

Maybe later.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

They will, you need to give them some time for that. Their first goal was to analyze, fix bugs, recompile and market it as their own.

jdkoerner Loc: New Yori

I have been putting the DXO version of NIK through its paces for the last few days with newly shot images. Other than the cosmetic changes to the HDR interface there is no difference in terms of other interfaces, ease of use, workflow or processing speed. I could say I was paying for the HDR interface alone because that was the only one that ceased to work in NIK with the last Windows update, with the hope of future improvements. I've downloaded free HDR from Sourceforge and I suppose I could revert to the old free version and use this new open source program for HDR, but as I said earlier I am adept at NIK and that includes the HDR export.

I hope they don't go broke and continue to work on the NIK suite.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I don't believe anyone has suggested they made any changes to the interfaces, ease of use, workflow or processing speed. They purchased and took ownership of the Collection which had been abandoned, they recompiled and fixed reported bugs, they are now providing support for a previously unsupported application, and are offering it for sale at a bargain price. The next version will contain functional updates. If you were happy with the free copy and it met you needs without apparent bugs then wait until they release the next version.

jdkoerner Loc: New Yori

As I mentioned, I theorize that it was the latest update to Windows that ruined a long and fruitful run without any issues. But I can't use free NIK anymore because the HDR simply won't work.