Switching from PC to MAC

[aliengin]

I don't know if this is the right section to ask...
I've been thinking for a long time and now time seems to be good. I have couple of questions...

1) If I have the license for Photoshop and Lightroom for PC can I upgrade to a new version for MAC? Instead of paying the full price again, can I use the upgrade price for a different platform?

2) I have 3 different external hard drives (Western Digital) formatted and used for image storage with my PC laptop. If I get the MAC will I be able to see the RAW files stored in these PC formatted hard drives?

[Tony-S]

1. My understanding is if they are the current versions, Adobe will do a cross-license for something like $15.

2. If those hard drives are NTFS (likely) then you'll be able to read them, but not write to them without a third-party application specifically for writing to NTFS volumes. The freeware apps NTFS-3D and MacFUSE were used in combination to do this, but I don't think they are compatible with Apple's latest OS (Lion). It would be best to copy the files from the external drives to the internal Mac drive, then reinitialize those NTFS volumes to Mac OS X volumes.

[aliengin]

Originally Posted by Tony-S

1. My understanding is if they are the current versions, Adobe will do a cross-license for something like $15.

2. If those hard drives are NTFS (likely) then you'll be able to read them, but not write to them without a third-party application specifically for writing to NTFS volumes. The freeware apps NTFS-3D and MacFUSE were used in combination to do this, but I don't think they are compatible with Apple's latest OS (Lion). It would be best to copy the files from the external drives to the internal Mac drive, then reinitialize those NTFS volumes to Mac OS X volumes.

Thanks that was my intention for hard drives. I was just not sure if the drives would be recognizable or not.
For the Adobe software, I was planning to go up a version by paying their upgrade pricing but I will be more than happy to do the same version for cross platform transfer and then upgrade. i guess I will contact Adobe for this issue.

[René Damkot]

You can upgrade from PSCS2 or newer to PSCS5. The same goes for "cross grade".

Lightroom can be used cross platform (and on both platforms using the same license). A Photoshop license is either Win or Mac…

[aliengin]

One more question.

When I buy my PC laptops it comes with bunch of crappy free software installed in it and I had to actually pay again for the Windows operating system CD and format an do a clean install. Since they do not provide Installation CDs with it.

Does Mac Book Pros come with shareware softwares installed?

[ArcticShooter]

Originally Posted by aliengin

One more question.

When I buy my PC laptops it comes with bunch of crappy free software installed in it and I had to actually pay again for the Windows operating system CD and format an do a clean install. Since they do not provide Installation CDs with it.

Does Mac Book Pros come with shareware softwares installed?

No shareware. Only fully working software like iPhoto, Garageband etc

[gjl711]

Originally Posted by aliengin

One more question.

When I buy my PC laptops it comes with bunch of crappy free software installed in it and I had to actually pay again for the Windows operating system CD and format an do a clean install. Since they do not provide Installation CDs with it....

Purchasing Windows again was not necessary. Any CD will do. There is nothing special about the CDs. They are all the same. All you had to do is load any windows or download it and when activating, supply your key #.

[digital paradise]

I contacted adobe and they had me fill out a form when I switched from PC to MAC. There is no cost. This way it is all legal.

[Mark-B]

Originally Posted by aliengin

1) If I have the license for Photoshop and Lightroom for PC can I upgrade to a new version for MAC? Instead of paying the full price again, can I use the upgrade price for a different platform?

Lightroom is a cross-platform program. Your PC serial number will work on Mac with no additional licensing fees. Photoshop is not as easy - you will need to call customer service for a new serial number and can get one for a small fee.

2) I have 3 different external hard drives (Western Digital) formatted and used for image storage with my PC laptop. If I get the MAC will I be able to see the RAW files stored in these PC formatted hard drives?

Your Mac will be able to read from all of the drives, but will only be able to write to the drive if is is Fat32 (not NTFS). When I made the switch, I connected my external drive to the Mac, moved everything off of it, reformatted it to HFS+, then put everything back on it.

[theatrus]

If you're sharing your drive between Windows and Mac, and aren't running Windows XP, and have drives > 1TB, I strongly recommend formatting as exFAT instead of FAT32.

[René Damkot]

Or just keep them NTFS and check these links:

http://ntfsonmac.com/

http://hints.macworld.com/article.ph...90913140023382
http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/262...s-for-mac-os-x