I don't use Photoshop myself.

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I'd certainly want to fiddle about with one in a store before buying another brand of laptop.

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I have never used GIMP so I really can't comment. Though I have heard good things about it.

Photo manipulation is my weakest area. Which is why my shots are good but not great.

Flaking paint? Intel Chips. Is this the end of Apple?

Just kidding.

I don't think Adobe has said when the new version is coming out and after Apple released Apature I am not sure they are really in a hurry to accommodate them.

I need to find one of the new ones though. I want to see and try this new keyboard design that you either love or hate apparently.

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Gimp for Mac OS X

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Don't get mw wrong the macbooks look awsome especially the black, but durabrite sucks, and it feels like a moron tax to charge a $150 extra for black.

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Been playing around with Lightshow on my G4 and while it looks good I am having issues with it. Mainly the fact in "loupe" view it can take upwards of 30 sec to a minute + to focus the image.

This could be the "beta" version or it could be that I am running it on a older lap top.

I was actually looking at investing in Aperture but found out that it was NOT meant to be run on anything but a desk top with a lot of power so no go for now.

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I just discovered that Canon's DPP raw processor doesn't work on Intel Macs. I had hoped it would be just slow but instead it just hanged when I tried it. Capture One and RAW Developer both have raw processors for Intel Macs now but this may be an issue.

So far it looks good (17" MacBook Pro). I have had no heat problems. Next steps are to get a monitor color calibration solution (puck + Intel-compatible software) and a raw processor running. I don't really need to do any final processing work in the field; a raw processor will do until Adobe gets their Photoshop build problem straightened out. I use Capture One on a PC anyway so it will at least be familiar if I opt to spend the $$$ on it.

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Maybe put a couple of deep-shag throw rugs by the bed.

I haven't had any FF extension problems. PM me a list of the extensions you use and I'll check it out (using the MR Tech Local Install extension, Tools->My Config->Copy - Text (Clipboard) will do it).

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Now if you just didn't have to sell a kidney in order to buy one....

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Photoshop should work within the Parallels VM. I installed Photoshop 7 under Windows 2000 in a VM and it seems to work.

One unknown is monitor calibration but if you don't calibrate your monitor anyway this is a non-issue.

Anyone who needs to buy a computer now and needs Photoshop might consider Parallels as a way to use CS2 (Microsoft Windows version) until CS3 (Macintosh version) appears.

Note that you have to buy a copy of Microsoft Windows separately.

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Apple has a way to boot Microsoft Windows on an Intel Mac. That does have security and reliability concerns.

The product from Parallels I'm referring to does something different. The Mac boots and runs Mac OSX as usual - they instead create a special window called a "virtual machine" (aka VM) and boot Microsoft Windows within the VM.

A VM is inherently very secure. Microsoft Windows may crash or become virus infested - but only within the VM universe. Crashes, viruses, malware, etc, cannot escape the VM. Spyware cannot see outside of the VM - in fact, the VM looks like a regular PC - the software doesn't realize it's just another window on a Mac.

In short you're right about Apple's solution but the Parallels solution doesn't have any of those problems.

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If a virus infects the Windows in the VM it may trash what's in the VM but can't escape into Mac OS X. This security is very strong and uses features in the CPU hardware and doesn't depend on Mac OS X and certainly not Windows!

As to how that virus can't escape: the VM looks like an entire PC to the Windows running there. When you boot up the VM you can even see a BIOS POST running briefly! The point is that the VM is an entire "universe": the virus cannot see or affect anything beyond the VM - there simply is no way to reference such things.

I have a copy of the Parallels VM installed and it works as advertised. I plan to use it with photo software once I figure out color management and how to handle printing (I haven't looked into it at all, but with a USB printer it may be an issue as to whether the printer is "owned" by Mac OS X or is owned within the VM by Windows - with a TCP/IP printer this is not an issue).

It's worth it if there is some program you really need to run that is worth buying a copy of Microsoft Windows to install in the VM (Parallels doesn't come with Windows; you have to buy it yourself).

A good example might be someone who got funding now to buy a computer but like Lee has to have Photoshop. You can buy a Mac, install the VM, Windows and Photoshop for Windows, and then next year upgrade to Photoshop CS3 running natively on Mac OS X.

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