Question about CS2 and the new Intel chip

[JTDennis]

I have a question about how CS2 and the new Intel chip work together. I'm thinking about investing in a new iMac with the Intel chip. At the same time I would like to get CS2. What potential problems will I have? Will I still be able to use CS2. When future upgrades to CS2 run native on the Intel chip will an upgrade be all I'll need? If anyone is currently using an iMac with the Intel chip has has some advise I would appreciate it.

[grnofslt]

You might try checking out Apples forums and see if there have been any problems listed. Also places like MacFixit.com will have many of the bugs people are going through listed. And you might also spend some time in the forums at Adobe's site too, because if there are any problems with CS2 and the new intel chips in Macs, for sure it will be mentioned there. Hope you find what you are looking for and I hope that you find that there will be no problems whatsoever.

BillyJay

[The Repro Kid]

Right now, almost all software excepting apple's does not run native on intel macs. Photoshop runs in rosetta, and I read that it only runs fast enough for casual use and does not run fast enough for serious work.

[spencer]

Right now, almost all software excepting apple's does not run native on intel macs. Photoshop runs in rosetta, and I read that it only runs fast enough for casual use and does not run fast enough for serious work.

repro is right, testing with Photoshop on the new macs shows that it will run, but not at speeds acceptable to professionals. You may want to check out the FAQ that Adobe just posted on their site about the issue: http://www.adobe.com/products/pdfs/intelmacsupport.pdf

one important thing to note is that Adobe is NOT planning on releasing a version of CS2 that will run natively on the new macs but is instead concentrating on solely on making sure the next version (CS3) will be able to do just that. If speed is an issue and/or if you use photoshop professionally, I would hold off on both purchases.

[JTDennis]

Does anyone know about when we should expect a version upgrade for the Creative Suite and Studio Pro? I know Adobe will never give an official date, but when did CS2 actually come out and about when would be see a new version?

[AdobeAce]

Hi JTDennis,

CS2 shipped April 30, 2005.

Adobe has generally been updating every two years, so it should be a while until the next one. But who knows what the buyout of Macromedia will do to this "schedule."

Ace

[The Repro Kid]

But hey,

quark says version 7.0 will be native.

I've tried the beta and I don't think it will come out anytime soon, but that, if anything, might spark some adobe action.

And as far as a native CS2 as opposed to a native CS3, adobe hasn't issued a X.X version of any program in a long time. I don't think they'll ever do it again. CS2.5 just doesn't have much marketing zing.

[kialua]

I just asked the same question on a different forum here. So the new Intell imac won't work with PhotoShop. And Spencer on the site said to try G4. Why not a G5? I really need the duo processor and might as well get a good one. And if I do that I will have to pitch Quark for money sake and use the InDesign. How long do you guys think it will take me to muddle through InDesign to be able to turn out a catalog of nothing but numbers? I have worked on Quark since "the beginning".

[The Repro Kid]

spencer's talking about the "old" iMac G5. I've noticed the old iMacs are only $100 less than the intel iMacs. I'm not sure if there are old dual processor iMac G5s but there are dual processor G5 tower macs.

But Photoshop doesn't recognize the old-style G5 dual processors. Software has to be aware of the old dual processors to utilize them. Various 3D applications like Strata recognize the old-style dual processors but I don't think any desktop publishing apps do.

With the the "new" DuoCore Processors, it's not that the programs don't work with the processor, it's a matter of CS and others not running "natively" on those processors. They will run, but through "rosetta" emulation, sort of like how mac os 9 runs on MacOsX. Running on emulation rather than native always slows things down.

[kialua]

Thanks for the info. I just don't know which is the best machine for PhotoShop anymore. Have a recommendation?

I have talked to a lot of salesmen, but they don't really understand the depth of my work. I work a lot in print so I have big files with a lot retouching going on. Since I started out years ago retouching by hand with dyes and chemicals I always see a need for it, even when I maybe shouldn't bother.

My G3 has worked fine, until the world stopped supporting System 9. Now I feel like an episode on Star Trek with the floor dropping out from under me and I have to keep jumping around to not fall into the abyss.

[kialua]

Hey, I looked at your underwater photography Repro. Great photos. I used to work with 120 format and took a lot of outside landscape photos that I need to scan in to work with now. I don't really have any good luck with taking digital photos. Again, used to the old way, but I am improving.

[The Repro Kid]

Thanks, the photos are revised in photohsop to bring out some color. I've since learned that the manual white point setting can be used underwater.

The manual white-balance also does wonders for topside photos. If you have a digital camera and it has manual white balance, that means you can point your camera a white card before you shoot, and your camera will dial in the white point compensation. can't wait to try it out underwater.

The best photoshop machine is the biggest dual-processor G5 tower loaded with full memory and further souped-up with the biggest most expensive graphics display card.

You could keep the standard graphics display card but I would fill the memory.

[kialua]

Thanks again. I am looking into a new computer, I have had it all weekend trying to upgrade and install system 9.2.1 then 9.2.2 so it will run classic in X tiger, to keep old programs a while longer. But what a nightmare I am having. Can't find my external now, and the internet was offline till this evening. Yikes. So waving the white surrender flag and bringing the computer in tomorrow and let a professional work on it. I'm just an artist.:o Did pretty good today though runnning all the extentions to find the conflict and got back on line.

The white point is usefull. My camera however, shakes so much when snapping the shot, and has such a delay that the photos are rarely useable at all. Can't always use a tripod to catch thing.

[The Repro Kid]

I guess a shaking camera would be inevitable while taking photos in the Frozen Tundra!

Newer cameras have motion gizmos that cancel the shaking.

Far as the shutter lag, my camera is old and the shutter lag is considerable. With people I've learned to fake it really well, I tell people "okay now get ready" when I've actually already hit the shutter, then by the time I say something like "cheeseburger" the shutter's is finally releasing, and I get the people to respond just in time. you can also slowly pan to follow motion after you've clicked the shutter and you'll still get the shots, that's how I get the shots of the fish.

[kialua]

That is such a good idea, to pan while waiting for the lag. I'll try that. Would love to try that underwater, but alas, the frozen tundra doesn't permit that for now, and our water here is anything but clear unless you go up to the boundry waters. Can only see about 3" down. :p Some of your alge shots would make great oil paintings or stained glass. Miss those days of hands on art, too tied down to the computer these days. Right now I am up to my neck with a catalog of car parts and 8 different price list with thousands and thousand of nothing but little tiny numbers. I get to design the cover though so it makes it all worthwhile.

Taking the old G3 computer in today. Hope it all works out long enough to get set up and running with the new stuff I am going to buy. Now one of the Apple stores in town told me that the G5 imac duo processor for $1499 would run Photoshop natively. I wish they had some programs installed at the store, so I could try it out before buying it.

[The Repro Kid]

photoshop will fine on the "old" G5 imacs.

I have an iMac G5 1.8 (single processor) and photoshop runs just fine.

Of course I did install the max amount of memory in the machine -- I wouldn't want to run photoshop any other way.

The screens are not really optimum though, on an iMac, at least not on my 17" model. they are good, but not great, like the Cinema Display is. You mostly notice this when looking at a less than optimum angle, especially looking from an above angle. The cinema Displays look great even at extreme angles. I do a lot of work "by the numbers" and so can get away with this on my home computer, especially for a temporary set up. But for the real deal, you'd really want a tower model so you can hook up a nice, huge, cinema display, if you can afford all that.

[kialua]

So for my interim machine I got a G4 with 1 gig of memory and I can run classic for my programs so that's good. Seems a bit slow though on Photoshop so my hunt will continue for the G5. A cinema screen would be great too. $$$$ Would be nice for my 8 point catalog numbers ;)
Thanks for all the help.

[Paul C]

I think you made a wise choice. It's time to wait to see what shakes out with the Intel chips. I'm looking at my Cinema right now and loving it. My attitude these days is get monitors you love and the CPUs are kind of disposable - out of date every 3 years - but necessary.

I work on a Dual Gig G4 and it handles billboards and whatever else I need to do just fine. I don't notice the speed difference because I have yet to work on a G5. I have a Dual 867 G4 at home running the full Creative Suite and ProTools. No problems there…

peace

[kialua]

Paul, are using Classic at all? I still have to update all my prgrams for X. I think it's Classic that is making my Photoshop so sluggish. Certain tools are slower than others but I am getting by. Same with Quark. I think I will look into a cinema screen as soon as funds open up.

[The Repro Kid]

Here's a link that lists the major Intel Native programs and leads to a list of all intel native programs.

http://guide.apple.com/universal/

Any program listed as "universal" will run natively on both a G4/G5 and an Intel mac. These will run on your G4 mac and any intel mac you but in the future.

Any programs of yours that aren't on the list will need to upgraded when you get your intel mac. Many programs are listed as "promising" an intel version.

[Paul C]

Paul, are using Classic at all?
Not anymore, thankfully. I was stuck with it for years due to our Exchange server at work but the new Entourage solved that for me. Running 2 operating systems 24/7 is not really the way to go.
I still have it installed though, in case I need to open up Quark 5 or a couple of other programs that I occasionally need.
By all means update if you can, starting with CS the programs are so much more tightly integrated, although I will say that 10.3.9 with CS was a lot more stable than 10.4.5 with CS2…
peace

[kialua]

Thanks Repro for the list, I'll keep it for reference. I don't use any of those programs now, just PS, Ill. Quark and Word.

I'm on system 10.4.3 Tiger and the Classic is a bit sluggish but still saves better than before. Printing in Quark doesn't like to do more than 3 pages at a time now. It wants me to re install the printer driver but if I hit "OK" it continues to print. I think it is confused as to where the printer library is: System X or Classic 9.2.2 so it gets all riled up. :confused: I guess I can get by for a while if you, Paul, handled it for 2 years. Wow.

The Frozen Tundra here got another 10" of snow today, really beautiful if you like that sort of thing.

[The Repro Kid]

At home I have an iMac G5 with 10.4.5 without classic, and a G4 Quicksilver with 10.4.5 with classic. At work I have a Dual G5 tower with 10.3.? with classic. At work I just have one or two small apps like bar code pro to run in Classic and it runs just fine, I don't have to do any printing. However on my home G4 I was running after effects 5 through classic (until I bought Final Cut Express). I also run poser occasionally in classic on my home machine. It actually runs just fine, but my G4 has the maximum amount of memory installed. I would imagine that the maximum amount of memory installed makes a big difference in how slow classic feels. Classic seems to run just fine on both machines I use that have it but they both have lots of memory.

Here in the Desert Chaparral (if you can find any under the concrete) we've had an Arctic storm front that has brought the temps down into the forties, but without much rain, it's also been pretty.

[kialua]

I do have the max memory I think, for a G4, 1 Gig. It makes other things a snap, but Classic is sluggish.. I guess I will get by for now.

40 above? Where's my lawnchair? Oh that's right I left it on the deck when we had 45 last week and today it is full of snow, buried.

[kdr0014]

this is a little off subject, but I was wondering if since windows can run on the new intel macs. Does this mean that virtual pc is going to be discontinued? I've seen places on the internet where someone installed windows to the intel imac, and ran it natively on the mac. So do you think that apple will work with Microsoft to create a product that can run both operating systems equally fast? I love OSX, but windows has a few advantages. Only because windows is the market majority. Since CS3 isn't coming out until the second quarter of 07, it might be best to wait for the next batch of intel machines. The will probably be another macbook pro, and all the other machines will be converted as well. It'll be interesting to see how cs3 differs from cs2 since they had to completely start from scratch. adobe said that moving the code to apple's developing environment was more difficult than anticipated, and that there will be no updates for CS2 to make it run natively on the intel macs. This is disappointing a little, but at the same time very exciting, because it will be interesting to see what changes are made since it wasn't just an enhancement of an older version. It'll be interesting this time next year...