Right after announcing the release of 64-bit support in the Lightroom 2 beta, Photoshop Senior Project Manager John Nack dropped a little bombshell on his blog, announcing that the next version of Photoshop (CS4) will be available in both 32- and 64-bit versions for Windows, but only a 32-bit version for OS X. The reason: Photoshop on OS X is written with the Carbon API. Last June Apple decided to kill 64-bit Carbon, forcing all future 64-bit application development on the Mac to Cocoa. Adobe had originally planned to ship a 64-bit CS4 as a Carbon app and port to Cocoa for CS5, but now the 64-bit version will have to wait for the CS5 Cocoa build.The (relative) good news is that this will primarily affect users working on "very large files on a suitably equipped machine." The average speed bump "due to running in 64-bit mode is around 8-12%" when not "using a large data set." The bad news is that it is precisely those professional users who buy Mac Pros maxed out on RAM that will likely get penalized. It'll be a sad day when the Photoshop jockeys have to run in Boot Camp to get the most out of their Mac Pros.
[via Daring Fireball]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
4-03-2008 @ 8:44AM
Speddy said...
Once again, Adobe gives the shaft to the LOYAL, Hard-working, Midnight-oil-burning designer/photographer that uses a mac as their preferred tool.
And once again, I ask, will AAPL shareholders consider removing Adobe from the board. Because a company like Apple, that got Adobe started, deserves better.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 9:06AM
PistolPeet said...
It's not Adobe's fault at all, this lies squarely at Apple's feet.
I love my Mac's, but as a C++ coder I was very upset to learn I'd have to use Cocoa instead of Carbon to develop 64bit application.
4-03-2008 @ 9:21AM
bob said...
It is adobes thought, they should have made photoshop cocoa a long time ago, especially when they made a universal version, the time they took could have been better spent. Im just glad there is a lot of other apps starting to mature in this area on the mac and hopefully we wont need cs4 by the time its out.
4-03-2008 @ 9:23AM
DJCarbon43 said...
How in god's name is it Apple's fault? Apple has had their cocoa road map out for how long now? Apple has made abundantly clear that they don't have the time to waste supporting legacy (carbon) codebases. Cocoa is actually quite nice.
This is the stupidest thing I've seen Adobe do in quite some time.
4-03-2008 @ 9:52AM
Adam S said...
Bob, don't be ridiculous. Carbon is a perfectly valid framework for Mac apps. There's nothing mystical about Cocoa, Cocoa does not mean something is magically faster or better or more attractive, and no reason that Adobe should have just dropped everything to make PS Cocoa. Apple owns the blame 100% here, and Adobe has already announced they're working on updating to Cocoa.
4-03-2008 @ 9:56AM
Joe said...
Bob, "a long time ago" and "when they made a universal version" are not the same time. They just came out with their first universal version last year. This was also the first version that combined all of the Macromedia apps.
These massive apps take some time to create and Adobe doesn't exactly have infinite time or resources. And if you think that any of the competitors to PS will be competitive by the time CS4 comes out, you haven't talked to any pros in the field.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just trying to give you some more perspective on the matter. I'd love to see a serious competitor come around but I don't think it will happen within the next 2-3 years.
4-03-2008 @ 11:34AM
eric f. said...
Don't you think that if the Apple's board had any say about it that Adobe would have fought for them to not kill 64 Bit Carbon for at least another year until they finished the Cocoa port??
4-03-2008 @ 8:45AM
mentalsticks said...
It'll be interesting to see what graphic professionals care about more: Mac or Adobe...
This might be a business opportunity for Apple itself.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 8:48AM
conigs said...
I actually can't say I'm surprised. Adobe seems to loathe Apple more than it partners with them. (Part of me can't really blame them, though, since they are now competitors in certain areas.)
They whined about the switch to OSX, they dragged their heels getting Intel native apps in the wild... And on one of the Adobe blogs (Living Photoshop maybe?) they said something to the effect of "We'll move to 64-bit eventually, but it'll break things and 64-bit mainly just gives the app access to more memory. No biggy."
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 8:51AM
David said...
This is more Apple's fault than Adobe's. If Apple didn't cancel Carbon 64, Adobe wouldn't have to rewrite CS to Cocoa, which as you should know isn't the easiest thing to do, which is why Apple's Final Cut is still Carbon
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 8:54AM
Dexter said...
I don't think is gonna be such a big deal actually. I'm not a graphic designer myself, but i do visit offices of big newspapers and print/prepress-firms several times a month. In a lot of these places most people still work on G4 PowerMacs or sometimes (not very often) even G3 towers. I do see more and more Aluminum towers, but not a majority.
Upgrading an entire design department etc. is just too expensive to do every time a new version of CS comes out.
So, unless CS4 is going to be something groundbreaking, i don't think it 'll be that hard to wait for CS5. The individual customer however is more likely to be affected by this.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 8:58AM
Bob Smith said...
While you're busy kicking Adobe off the board, how about tossing Intuit too? Quickbooks on the Mac is a pathetic joke.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 8:58AM
someshow said...
I thought you had to move to Cocoa before you made a Universal app.
I just bought CS3 I am not going to buy CS4 if it comes out soon, they should just delay it and make it 64-bit.
I bought a 64-bit G5 3 years ago, and no apps used it's 64-bitness. Now I have a Mac Pro Octo that has 64-bit procs and I bet I will have something else by the time CS5 is out.
Why is hardware like 8 years ahead of software?
I think Adobe has got really lazy they need competition. Maybe it's time for Apple to splurge and buy out Adobe, either that or finally release there own photoshop killer.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 9:00AM
pete said...
I'm getting really sick of adobe's attitude, first, it's the 'let's ripp off the europeans' now this b*llsh*t. Again.
I couldn't care less if they made the next photoshop 1 bit.
The thing that gets me is that CS3 had a massive delay because it needed to be "rewritten from the grounds up", those are also Nack's words. He basically tried to push it onto the mac community as "blame apple".
Now they're pulling the same stunt.
Also, another discussion while CS3 was being "rewritten from the grounds up", was why it wasn't been done properly with the inclusion of 64bit support.
Nack's answer was another annoying adobe-fanboy-blogpost with technical details why 64bit is marketing hype and wouldn't mean anything for photoshop users.
All Nack's words.
Now he's turning his own words to put the blame on apple.
Oh.... poor Adobe... poor poor bastards...
But with the money they ripped off of european customers, they should have enough cash to turn CS4 into a 256bit application..
I have been a loyal Adobe user and upgrader since photoshop 3, but they lost me with CS3...
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 9:08AM
someshow said...
Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id5vpy2CapY
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 9:18AM
DistortedLoop said...
Thank you for posting that before I approved the response I had just drafted for posting which questioned the difference between 32 and 64 bit in this context!
So, Adobe's had plenty of time to develop, and it's a big speed difference.
What app was Steve demoing? Aperture? Is CS3 that much more feature rich that pros wouldn't just switch to Aperture (assuming 64-bit) if speed's important to them?
4-03-2008 @ 9:26AM
David said...
Aperture and Photoshop are two different apps. Aperture competes with Lightroom, not Photoshop
4-03-2008 @ 9:25AM
someshow said...
Aperture competes with Adobe Lightroom not photoshop.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 9:29AM
Tom said...
Now all we have to do is wait for PixelMator to get upto (full) Photoshop level then we can all jump ship!
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 9:53AM
Whiplash said...
I agree. Adobe is becoming a bloated sloth of a company and time is nearly ripe for an upstart to come knock them off their perch.