Can I run Lightroom for pc on a mac?

I am thinking of upgrading to a mac. i already own lightroom and photoshop for pc and don't want to have to buy all the software for mac. how efficient, or lack there of, will it be if i run a pc based lightroom on a mac? what do i need to know to do this?

Lightroom comes with Mac & pc versions. For a small fee, you can crossgrade PS by contacting Adobe - there is a requirement that you destroy the pc version. Search the forum; there are plenty of threads describing the process.

What are the specs of your current machine? It may be more cost effective to upgrade. I just built a sub $750 i5 for my brother.

wlescall wrote in post #9360010
Lightroom comes with Mac & pc versions. For a small fee, you can crossgrade PS by contacting Adobe - there is a requirement that you destroy the pc version. Search the forum; there are plenty of threads describing the process.

What are the specs of your current machine? It may be more cost effective to upgrade. I just built a sub $750 i5 for my brother.

Wrong: you need CS4 in order to crossgrade, so if he doesn't, it's not a small fee, it's upgrade fee plus crossgrade fee if you don't have cs4.

If you are thinking of mac, you have two options: 27" iMac with i5 or i7, or Mac Pro. If you don't have the $2k for either, stick to non-apple hardware. As wlescall said, you can probably get a brand new system for only twice the cost of an upgrade, and it'll be as good as the i5 27" iMac.

basroil wrote in post #9360138
If you are thinking of mac, you have two options: 27" iMac with i5 or i7, or Mac Pro. If you don't have the $2k for either, stick to non-apple hardware. As wlescall said, you can probably get a brand new system for only twice the cost of an upgrade, and it'll be as good as the i5 27" iMac.

Sometimes people just want a Mac because they want a Mac. It's not always about benchmarks and performance to cost ratios. Is the 85 L five times better than the 85 1.8, I doubt it. Sometimes we just want things because they look nice, or appeal to us. Not because they are the most cost efficient.

To the OP - Yes, you can run your copy of Lightroom on a Mac. The software is cross platform and the license will allow you to install it on two computers provided that they are not both running Lightroom at the same time.

I just ordered Lightroom from Adobes education site and it says for "Win/Mac right on it... I would imagine this would mean it works on both systems?

bphillips330 wrote in post #9359660
I am thinking of upgrading to a mac. i already own lightroom and photoshop for pc and don't want to have to buy all the software for mac. how efficient, or lack there of, will it be if i run a pc based lightroom on a mac? what do i need to know to do this?

The only real reasons to switch to Mac would be because you like the OS and the craftsmanship of your product. At work, I'm an IT professional in a mainly PC environment and I get really tired of dealing with PCs every day, so when I get home it's a real treat to use a Mac and not worry about anything.

The first upside to Apple is it's customers are a happier lot than PC customers by a good margin. The second upside, is Apple products are mainly proprietary. That means, Apple has tested their equipment and software with 99% of what is available and that means stability. So, it comes down to power+flexibility at the expense of stability and ease with PCs or stability+ease at the expense of power and flexibility with Mac's.

Do yourself a favor, go use a Mac for about 20 minutes and see what you think. Wouldn't you go test drive a car, lay in a bed or sit on a couch before buying them? You're going to be putting a lot of hours behind that computer - it'd be smart to at least spend a good amount of time testing it first. And if you already have, and don't care one way or another, then go get a PC. It's cheaper - just buy a good suite like Kaspersky or Mcafee, but get them from Amazon for a better price.

crn3371 wrote in post #9360597
Sometimes people just want a Mac because they want a Mac. It's not always about benchmarks and performance to cost ratios. Is the 85 L five times better than the 85 1.8, I doubt it. Sometimes we just want things because they look nice, or appeal to us. Not because they are the most cost efficient.

Depending on what OP has, he may not experience an UPGRADE by switching to a mac. It's may be like switching from canon 85 1.2 to nikon for their 85 1.4 for OP, and he may be better off just buying a newer, better canon.

Of course, OP need to tell us what he has now before we can tell him how much of an upgrade each system would be.

But that is secondary to the first two replies in the thread.

MaxxuM wrote in post #9360666
The only real reasons to switch to Mac would be because you like the OS and the craftsmanship of your product. At work, I'm an IT professional in a mainly PC environment and I get really tired of dealing with PCs every day, so when I get home it's a real treat to use a Mac and not worry about anything.

The first upside to Apple is it's customers are a happier lot than PC customers by a good margin. The second upside, is Apple products are mainly proprietary. That means, Apple has tested their equipment and software with 99% of what is available and that means stability. So, it comes down to power+flexibility at the expense of stability and ease with PCs or stability+ease at the expense of power and flexibility with Mac's.

Do yourself a favor, go use a Mac for about 20 minutes and see what you think. Wouldn't you go test drive a car, lay in a bed or sit on a couch before buying them? You're going to be putting a lot of hours behind that computer - it'd be smart to at least spend a good amount of time testing it first. And if you already have, and don't care one way or another, then go get a PC. It's cheaper - just buy a good suite like Kaspersky or Mcafee, but get them from Amazon for a better price.

Well said.