Adobe killing support for PowerPC on Macs

[Walter Rowe]

Adobe's next Lightroom to forsake PowerPC Macs

Adobe Systems, taking the same course with its forthcoming Creative Suite applications, will offer the next Mac OS X version of Photoshop Lightroom only on Intel-based machines.

Apple has chosen to discontinue support for Macs using PowerPC processors beginning with its next operating system, version 10.6 aka Snow Leopard, which is due to arrive in coming weeks. Adobe said last week that its next Creative Suite will follow suit. The CS family includes programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, DreamWeaver, and Flash Professional.
Lightroom, which is for editing and cataloging photos, isn't part of the suite, but it's headed the same route.

"The next full version update of Lightroom will not run on PowerPC-based Mac computers," Lightroom product manager Tom Hogarty said in a blog post last week. "Lightroom 2 updates will continue to support PowerPC."

Meanwhile, Photoshop Principal Product Manager John Nack, while fond of PowerPC, took a pragmatic tone on his blog: "By the time the next version of the (Creative) Suite ships, the very youngest PPC-based Macs will be roughly four years old. They're still great systems, but if you haven't upgraded your workstation in four years, you're probably not in a rush to upgrade your software, either."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-10311046-39.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

 

[Kiwi Geoff]

Or is it Apple??????

 

[Walter Rowe]

One could argue it is Apple since Snow Leopard won't support PowerPC either. I know that Adobe has stated they would not be able to provide a complete 64-bit CS version until CS5, which won't come until next year (well after the 64-bit Snow Leopard is released). I imagine that Adobe will require Snow Leopard for the CS5 suite of products and only provide the Intel binaries. On the good side, it should be fully 64-bit and should provide a little lighter footprint without the PowerPC resources. Let's hope it all distills into performance improvements and more efficient use of memory for both Lightroom and the CS products.

 

[Kiwi Geoff]

I'm sure there will be plenty to keep you happy when the releases happen.....

 

[jfrancis]

Can't wait for the next major release of Lightroom!!

 

[Clix Pix]

One reason I skipped CS4 is that I knew big changes would be coming with the next version, especially since in CS4 they hadn't done much with 64-bit and such. My primary post-processing tool is Aperture. I'm really looking forward to Snow Leopard and to eventual upgrades in Aperture and CS!

 

[Walter Rowe]

Connie - I skipped the CS4 upgrade for the same reason. I have Design Premium CS3. The upgrade to CS4 was hundreds of dollars and I just didn't see the return on investment, especially knowing Adobe would not have a 64-bit version of Photoshop before CS5. Except for compatibility with the raw converter in Lightroom 2, I have not found myself unable to do something in CS3. And I can export from Lightroom 2 into PSD files that I can edit in PS.

 

[Clix Pix]

Exactly, Walter! I felt as though CS4 were way too much money for the way in which it was still "crippled" for the Mac by not having the full benefits of 64-bit. I've been perfectly happy with CS3 or even CS2 (which I've still got in one of my machines) for the odd time that I need to pop in and add some special little touch to an image that I can't do with Aperture. If I were using Photoshop for all of my image post-processing then I probably would've gone ahead and bitten the bullet anyway, but my pocketbook is more than happy to sit out CS4 and wait for CS5!

 

[sylvesterii]

Ending support for power pc macs in future releases seems luke such a non issue to me. Would any even have the horsepower to run the contemplated programs? Its has been what three years at least since the last release?

 

[Kiwi Geoff]

Ending support for power pc macs in future releases seems luke such a non issue to me. Would any even have the horsepower to run the contemplated programs? Its has been what three years at least since the last release?

Fair comment, however G5's are still pretty grunty machines and very stable, probably more so than the Intels.

 

[Julien]

Ending support for power pc macs in future releases seems luke such a non issue to me. Would any even have the horsepower to run the contemplated programs? Its has been what three years at least since the last release?

I run LR2 and CS3 (amongst other recent apps) on my PPC iMac G5. It might be obviously slower than the recent models but it gets the job done. These machines last :wink:

 

[Kiwi Geoff]

I relate to your comments Julien - in for a MBP and ACD now!!