Just
downloaded Adobe Photoshop Lightroom beta 4.1 released on October 19, 2006.
This is one of the most awaited software for Windows users who were hoping dreaming
that Apple would release a Windows version of its powerful RAW management
software the Apple Aperture.
Will
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom be able to cater the need of amateur and professional
photographers in terms of photo management, specifically RAW management when it
is finalized?
One
thing that Adobe Photoshop Lightroom as of beta 4.1 is better than the Apple
Aperture is the minimum requirement to run the software. Users will only the following
specification in order to run it.
Windows
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Pentium 4 processor
768 MB RAM (1GB Recommended)
1GB or more free HD space
1024 x 768 resolution screen
Official FAQ release from Adobe:
What is the Photoshop Lightroom beta?
The
Photoshop Lightroom beta is a new, exciting product built from the
ground up for professional photographers. It is an efficient, powerful
way to import, select, develop and showcase large volumes of digital
images. It allows you to spend less time sorting and organizing images,
so you have more time to actually shoot and perfect them. The Photoshop
Lightroom beta program aims to get direct product feedback from the
photography community, via the Adobe Labs web site, so that
photographers will have an impact in what Adobe actually ships.
Why a Photoshop Lightroom beta?
To
put it simply, Photoshop Lightroom is unfinished. We want to make it
available to you now, so you can tell us what you like, what you’d like
better—so you can help us shape it into the efficient and elegant
workflow solution that photographers need. We also launched the Labs
web site, as a venue for showcasing and releasing emerging
technologies. Photoshop Lightroom was the first end-user application to
be made available through the Labs web site.
What is Labs?
Adobe
Labs is the next generation of Macromedia Labs, which launched in
October 2005 to share early technology access with software developers.
Now that Macromedia is part of Adobe, Labs takes on the broader goal of
being the source for early looks at emerging products and technologies
from Adobe, including Photoshop Lightroom. Here you can get early
access to downloads, samples, documentation, release notes, tutorials
and more. You can also ask questions, discuss, and share your feedback
with Adobe.
Why did the Windows version come out later than the one for Mac OS X?
The
Windows and Mac OS versions of Photoshop Lightroom are under
simultaneous development, but the Mac OS X beta version was ready to be
introduced to the public before the one for Windows. The final,
packaged versions for both platforms should be released within a few
months of each other. As Microsoft is gearing up for a major operating
system transition, and since Photoshop Lightroom is a brand new product
from Adobe, we are spending extra time on the Windows side to deliver
the best design that will support our Windows customers today, while
also building for the future.
Are the features the same in the Windows and Mac OS betas?
Not
yet. As the Mac OS beta was ready for release first, it is slightly
ahead of the Windows version in terms of feature completion. However,
the final, released versions of Photoshop Lightroom will contain the
same features, and deliver the same professional, best-of-class
results, no matter which platform you choose to use.
Will Photoshop Lightroom run on Intel-based Macintoshes?
Yes.
The Macintosh version of Photoshop Lightroom is a Universal application
that will run natively both on PowerPC systems and on the new
Intel-based Macintoshes.
