Acorn Arcade forums: PhotoDesk new release reviewed

Posted by Mark Stephens on 06:29, 22/9/2022 | News

There is a new release of the veteran image package PhotoDesk now available.

The product has now moved to XAT and the release is being handled by R-Comp on !Store

The software is now supplied as a zip. As well as the installer program, the zip also contains the manual and some example images.

The main change appears to be updates to the installer. This is no longer designed to run from CD and there are 2 different versions - one for RISC OS 3/4 and one for RISC OS 5. This allows it to setup different default settings, such as allocating more memory to the application.

The software will pick up your previous program settings if you install over your old copy.

Most of the program changes appear to be cosmetic, with the splash screen and InfoBox now updated to mention XAT.

2 nice tweaks to the actual program are that it no longer saves images to clipboard between sessions. It also now only claims the JPEG and PNG filetypes if not already allocated when loaded.

The software is now available on !Store for 42 pounds (half its previous price) or a 29 pounds upgrade. It is very nice to have the software easily available again at a cheaper price and hopefully seeing a new lease of life.

PhotoDesk new release reviewed

Bucksboy (16:51 23/9/2022)
  paintings (18:38 28/9/2022)
    Bucksboy (17:26 5/10/2022)
      castlevarich (16:38 12/10/2022)
        Bucksboy (21:16 20/10/2022)
        Bucksboy (21:16 20/10/2022)
        arawnsley (09:29 21/10/2022)

George Greenfield

Message #125336, posted by Bucksboy at 16:51, 23/9/2022

Member
Posts: 91

It doesn't sound as if Photodesk's chronic instability (IME) when running on an ARMv8 platform (a Pi 4 in my case) has been addressed. I've got the previous 'latest' version - 3.17.14; sometimes it loads to the icon bar, other times it prefers to freeze the machine, and there's no way of telling in advance which Photodesk persona - Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde - is going to turn up. So I generally use Photodesk on my Pi 1, or under RPCEmu on Wintel, where on either platform it is rock-solid. This is a shame, as the Pi 4 is much faster than either.

[Edited by Bucksboy at 17:52, 23/9/2022]

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Stuart Painting

Message #125337, posted by paintings at 18:38, 28/9/2022, in reply to message #125336

Member
Posts: 6

I've tried out the new version of PhotoDesk on a Pi 4B: although I haven't given it a comprehensive going-over, it does seem to function as expected.

As I understand it, XAT did some work to get it running on the Pi 4, and this is the version R-Comp have been sending out as an upgrade for the past 3 months, prior to it appearing on !Store.

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George Greenfield

Message #125339, posted by Bucksboy at 17:26, 5/10/2022, in reply to message #125337

Member
Posts: 91

Thanks: I’ll give the new version a go.

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Jon Robinson

Message #125342, posted by castlevarich at 16:38, 12/10/2022, in reply to message #125339

Member
Posts: 55

Dear George

Does it behave more reliably when you load it immediately after boot up, rather than after you've used some other software?

Also has anybody tried it on an ARMBook?

Regards

Jon

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George Greenfield

Message #125348, posted by Bucksboy at 21:16, 20/10/2022, in reply to message #125342

Member
Posts: 91

Does it behave more reliably when you load it immediately after boot up, rather than after you've used some other software?

Yes. But even after a reboot it sometimes locks the machine.

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George Greenfield

Message #125349, posted by Bucksboy at 21:16, 20/10/2022, in reply to message #125342

Member
Posts: 91

Does it behave more reliably when you load it immediately after boot up, rather than after you've used some other software?

Yes. But even after a reboot it sometimes locks the machine.

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Andrew Rawnsley

Message #125350, posted by arawnsley at 09:29, 21/10/2022, in reply to message #125342

R-Comp chap
Posts: 600

Jon,

I haven't had a chance to try it on an original Pinebook, but my demo at ROUGOL was shown an a Pinebook Pro which uses the same architecture generation (A72) as Pi4. No problems encountered. Original Pinebook is also ARMv8 (if I recall correctly) so should be broadly similar in terms of compatibility. I'll need to charge mine up, but if I have a chance, will check.

Similarly, many of us test on Pi4 gen machines, and I've had no reports of issues. That being said, it is always possible, and there is a chance some other program being seen could be causing a conflict for George. All I can really say is that I've had no issues on any of our systems, and nor have the various people/companies who test it.

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