ACDSee Pro for Mac Beta thread

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chas_m

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Hi there!

I'm Chas, you will see me around in the other forums chatting about all manner of things, but the forum mods here have kindly allowed me a thread to update you all on news regarding a forthcoming product for the Mac I am excited about: ACDSee Pro for Mac.

ACDSee is one of the very few programs on the Windows side that has a really Mac-like following of intensely loyal users, so a true Mac-native version -- not a port -- is long overdue.

Those of you who are looking for a photo-management alternative to the existing products (all very fine, let's make that clear!) may wish to check out the free beta, which you can find here:

ACDSee Photo Software

It's early days yet, and not feature complete. For more info on how to use what is there, and a look at what's coming, I invite you to check out the video's on ACDSee's YouTube channel.

What we really want at this stage is feedback from Mac users on what you'd like to see in it. Obviously we have a model to go by (ACDSee Pro 3 for Windows), but this is a Mac version, so it should be Mac-centric ... and cater to Mac users, whether they're familiar with the Windows version or not.

You can add your thoughts and feedback to our community forums:

ACDSee Community

Lastly, although I work with ACDSee and want to keep people informed about this product as it goes through its beta stages, I love and use a huge variety of Mac programs and thus I'm here not solely to promote ACDSee but to offer help when I can (on any topic), learn stuff from everyone else, and generally be a good contributing member.

See you around!

Cheers
chas_m

Evangelist, ACDSee Pro for Mac
Get the beta!
Join the community!
Help us build the next great Mac photo manager!
 
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First, thanks for being open and honest about your affiliation.

I know that ACDSee has a well-established place on Windows, but I'm dubious as to its place on the Mac, where we have everything from GraphicConverter (which seems to do everything your product does, but for under fifty bucks) to Aperture, which costs a bit more but has Apple's backing. Lots of photographers on the Mac, and lots of tools that aren't available on Windows.

I know some transplanted Windows users will be happy to see a familiar product, but that may only be because they're unfamiliar with the options on this platform.

I also know a lot of users of Deneba's Canvas were disappointed with ACDSee's support for the product on the Mac after they acquired it. The technical support was reportedly clueless that there even was a Mac version of the product (for which people paid the same price as Windows users) and people were almost relieved when Canvas 11 was announced as a Windows-only product.

So. Uh. Yeah. Welcome to the Mac platform, home of a bunch of very demanding and fussy customers....
 
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1) It's Intel only. Thanks for nothing.

2) I've ben using GraphicConverter for WAY to long to bother with a new product that costs more AND doesn't support the PPC architecture. If your going to bother with the Mac community, you need to support both architectures for the foreseeable future.

3) Did I mention price. Yeah...

4) Well, 1, 2 and 3 were pretty much it really.
 
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chas_m

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So. Uh. Yeah. Welcome to the Mac platform, home of a bunch of very demanding and fussy customers....

Oh believe me I know -- I am ONE of those very demanding and fussy customers!! :)

I own (as in bought!) Graphic Converter and use it, also own Photoshop. I think you'll find that ACDSee Pro for Mac has a few tricks GC just doesn't do, or doesn't do as elegantly (I've personally always found GC rather ugly, not OpenOffice ugly but still -- more like OS 9 throwback ugly). Time will tell, I can tell you the team are keen on leveraging all the Mac OS X technology into it that they can, which is A Good Thing.

But yes, they're very aware that they are entering a field that is crowded with good-quality programs. I think they enjoy the challenge! :)
 
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chas_m

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1) It's Intel only. Thanks for nothing.

So is the next version of Flash. So are the next versions of pretty much all Adobe products. ISTR reading something suggesting the next version MS Office will be going that route as well (though I could be wrong).

Oh, and so is Snow Leopard.

Furthermore, another three million Intel Macs running Snow Leopard are sold every quarter. On top of the ~30M sold since Apple went all-Intel in early 2006. This represents, as near as I can find figures for, around half the worldwide installed base. Put another way, 50% of the total Mac population has switched to Intel within four years' time, and the rate of adoption is accelerating.

I know this is annoying to PPC owners and they don't want to hear it, but the writing is on the wall in huge phosphorescent green paint -- PPC development is winding down (and that is frankly being diplomatic). Our product isn't even out of beta yet. We're certainly not looking to the past, but rather towards the future.

I certainly don't fault PPC owners for enjoying their machines and holding on to them as long as possible, but as developers we can't be so ... romantic.

2) I've ben using GraphicConverter for WAY to long to bother with a new product that costs more

As stated above, GC is awesome. But ACDSee Pro will have a lot of features GC does not. Maybe they'll interest you, maybe they won't. It certainly won't harm anything to download the beta and try it out -- or a free trial of the commercial release when we get to that point if that's more your fancy. One of the nice things about ACDSee is that it doesn't mess with your preset setup, copy your assets into its own library/vault or interfere with whatever you're already using.

As for price, the Mac edition's price hasn't been set yet. You're making an assumption (actually more than one) based on the Windows price. This may -- or may not -- turn out to be correct, but at this point even I don't know.
 
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I was a long-time user of ACDSee in Windows before I switched to OS X. One of the first apps I tried when I first got a Mac 7 years ago was the Mac version of ACDSee. It was pathetic. Not even quite on-par with ACDSee Classic, and had features that simply didn't work. I for one have long since moved on, and quite frankly have adjusted and don't much see the point in going back to ACDSee again just because they are just now putting some real effort into the platform finally. They'd have to do something truly revolutionary, and I am highly skeptical they can really pull that off. There are plenty of excellent existing alternatives from developers who have long developed for OS X.
 
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As stated above, GC is awesome. But ACDSee Pro will have a lot of features GC does not. Maybe they'll interest you, maybe they won't.

Ok, I'll bite. What does/will ACDSee do that GC or others not do?

It certainly won't harm anything to download the beta and try it out -- or a free trial of the commercial release when we get to that point if that's more your fancy. One of the nice things about ACDSee is that it doesn't mess with your preset setup, copy your assets into its own library/vault or interfere with whatever you're already using.

Maybe I'm mis-interpreting what you are saying, but you aren't touting something that we aren't already accustomed to. It's expected for an OS X app to not "mess with" existing setups or otherwise interfere in what we are using. I suppose we would expect that in Windows, but then this is one of many reason we use OS X instead.
 
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chas_m

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I was a long-time user of ACDSee in Windows before I switched to OS X. One of the first apps I tried when I first got a Mac 7 years ago was the Mac version of ACDSee. It was pathetic. Not even quite on-par with ACDSee Classic, and had features that simply didn't work.

This new version of ACDSee Pro has absolutely nothing to do with any previous Mac attempts. It is not a port -- it is being rebuilt completely from the ground up as a Mac-native, Mac OS X-leveraging product.

The finished release should be closely akin to the features of ACDSee Pro 3 for Windows. There are some videos on YouTube that show off what Pro 3 can do -- that might give you some idea of why we think a Mac-native version is a) worth doing and b) will be awesome.

There are plenty of excellent existing alternatives from developers who have long developed for OS X.

I certainly agree with that, but we think we will be right in there with those alternatives.
 
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chas_m

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Ok, I'll bite. What does/will ACDSee do that GC or others not do?

Well, just as an example, check out the drag-and-drop workflow builder in this video on YouTube. The video refers to Beta 1.2 as a "sneak peek" but in fact it is now out.

As another example -- while ACDSee Pro for Mac is primarily designed to be used as an image manager, it can actually manage ANY kind of digital assets -- movies, music, files -- whatever you like! GC can't do that (and maybe that's not a feature you care about, but the point is that its there).

Maybe I'm mis-interpreting what you are saying, but you aren't touting something that we aren't already accustomed to.

Yeah, I should have made myself more clear on that, sorry. Just for the record, I am an longtime, hardcore Mac user. I don't use Windows, gave it up 20 years ago, don't expect to ever use it regularly.

What I meant was that ACDSee will not "re-copy" images from other programs' vaults/libraries/folders, taking up more room on your HD with duplicates. You can try out the ACDSee beta without worrying that it will move files around from where you or your other programs put them (you can *opt* to move/copy files if you want to, but that's strictly your decision).

Finally, if you would prefer to see what we're shooting for with the Mac version, you might want to check out the feature overview video for ACDSee Pro 3 for Windows. Despite having to look at ugly old Windows to do so, I think you'll see in that video why a lot of people are very keen on bringing some of that over to the Mac.
 
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This new version of ACDSee Pro has absolutely nothing to do with any previous Mac attempts. It is not a port -- it is being rebuilt completely from the ground up as a Mac-native, Mac OS X-leveraging product.

I don't dispute that. The point I was trying to make is that ACDSys has a long history of treating the Mac platform with contempt, between that half-baked ACDSee that didn't work entirely and taking away Canvas for their own use on Windows. Long-time users are annoyed and highly wary. If they come out with something truly groundbreaking, so much the better. Right now it seems heavily overhyped and this "evangelism" comes across as ACDSys setting themselves up as some conquering hero coming to rescue us from the banality of our existing options. Maybe it's just the skeptic in me, but it really turns me off, and I doubt I'm alone in that. *shrug* Anywho... enough on that before I get carried away or accidentally rude. Have a good one! :D
 
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chas_m

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1) It's Intel only. Thanks for nothing.

I can't believe I forgot to address this:

It's NOT intel-only. It's a Universal App, meaning it runs on PPC and Intel, Leopard or higher.

Just for the record.
 
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chas_m

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I don't dispute that. The point I was trying to make is that ACDSys has a long history of treating the Mac platform with contempt, between that half-baked ACDSee that didn't work entirely and taking away Canvas for their own use on Windows.

I disagree with the contention that ACDSee ever treated the Mac community "with contempt," but even if that were true, the team working on this new version are not the same people -- most of us (all of us that I've met) have never even RUN the old Mac version of ACDSee, that's how far we are removed from it.

Right now it seems heavily overhyped and this "evangelism" comes across as ACDSys setting themselves up as some conquering hero coming to rescue us from the banality of our existing options.

Really -- seriously -- I have no idea where you get that from. You'll not hear me say anything disparaging about the other programs for the Mac -- indeed, in another thread I just yesterday recommended PSE 8 to someone, and I personally still use and love iPhoto.

I'm doing nothing more here (and in the other places I visit) than trying to raise awareness of a new alternative. Choice is good, isn't it?

Have a good one! :D

You as well!
 
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chas_m

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Hey fellows:

My friend and ACDSee Community Manager Mel Wood has just put up a new video talking with sports photographer Serge Timacheff about "What's in a Pro Photographer's Case?" that any of you interested in "in the field" pro photography would likely enjoy.

The video is not an ad for ACDSee (though Serge does of course use it), its an educational look at what equipment a real, working, legendary sports photographer uses, how he keeps it all with him, what choices he's made and what he uses each piece in his "arsenal" for. If you're into that sort of thing, it's worth a look:

YouTube - What's in a Pro Photographer's Kit with Serge Timacheff
 
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chas_m

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Hey guys!

An update for anyone following the progress of ACDSee Pro for Mac and its loooong road to release.

New beta out, 1.4, with a Process Mode I think you will find almost as impressive as the sheer SPEED of this thing.

Still not done, eagerly looking for suggestions, if you're comfortable with beta software you might want to give it a spin and check out the new videos.
 

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