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| Author | MacroMedia's xRes 3: Faster than a speeding Photoshop (Read 7138 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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68040
512 MB  Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done ! 
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on: September 10, 2023, 13:10
As some may remember, I am running B-II on a rather high end ARM laptop. So I am fast(er) than a vintage HW setup anyway. But I still notice PhotoShop 4 lagging with CPU intensive tasks like Zooming, File Format Conversion or Complex Filter application. Thus I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon MacroMedia's xRes 3. Because it offers the most important subset of PS4 functions, but at a speed that's almost triple that of Adobe's behemoth. Its specially noticeable when loading and zooming in and out of very high res images. xRes starts quicker and operates leaner than PhotoShop. So, if you don't need to fight the Titans on Mt. Olympus, but are only after some minor skirmish with a few lesser demons of Hades, MacroMedia's swiftboat can be a perfect replacement for Adobe's big bad battle cruiser. |
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Last Edit: September 10, 2023, 13:48 by 68040
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #1 on: September 10, 2023, 17:53
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Could it be the PS version number itself that may be the culprit? I know each version had increasing hardware specs so perhaps trying versions 3 or even 2.5 which already had tons of perfectly working features might also yield some gold as far as a bump up in speed? I haven't played with any PS speed comparisons, but it very well might be worth a look  if there's any pot of gold at the end of that rainbow we could even claim the luck of the Irish and perhaps even dance a little jig at our fortune, and we're not even close to St. Patty's Day! 
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68040
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512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !
Reply #2 on: September 10, 2023, 17:57
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I've never been a fan of downgrades. Why forsake features you already have, just to "fix" a problem that really isn't one? After all, that is why the gods of MacHeaven bestowed xRes on us. Don't settle for less, if you can have more at the same "price".
Last Edit: September 10, 2023, 18:13 by 68040
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #3 on: September 10, 2023, 23:53
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True, but even I am a big fan of Word 5.1a compared to Word 6 (don't get me wrong, six comes with so much extra stuff, but I loved the simplicity, speed and small size that six lost with the extra stuff MS added) as well as losing the Mac look-and-feel with their Windows port to make both versions exactly the same, which backfired on them so much so they staggered the versions and year to avoid making that same mistake again both in looks as well as feature sets  Still, you as well as many others loved the upgrades that came with Word 6, so I'm not putting it down completely  Again this 'new to me' image program is the bomb!
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68040
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512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !
Reply #4 on: September 11, 2023, 11:06
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Word 6 is as perfect a stand-in for Microsoft's unavoidable office program as you can find for vintage Mac. And it most certainly offers (required) import/export features that Word 5.x doesn't. But - for whatever reason - Microsoft decided to develop in in such a fashion that it only runs stable if it runs alone. Which is kind of like the anti-thesis to Multitasking. So, yeah, its bad rap is somewhat deserved. But that doesn't apply for PS4 and it also does not favor "downgradism". Because there are 1000+1 vintage progs available as alternative solutions covering almost every area. So better to look around for a faster ride with a smaller footprint than turn pedestrian again.
Last Edit: September 11, 2023, 17:59 by 68040
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB  Posts: 2023
Reply #5 on: September 12, 2023, 08:37
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@68040 - out of interest, what are you using xRes for? Editing pictures for your books? Trying to envision a use case for myself (who is stubbornly clinging to Graphic Converter (80%) and Photoshop (20%) for most of his graphic needs.) Also, regarding the Word 6 discussion - Word 6 comes with an ugly un-Mac interface that totally puts me off. And what you may not realize on your modern hardware in emulation is how slooow it is by comparison to Word 5.1. I ran both on my 68030 Mac IIci and you can tell the difference immediately. Don't want to think about it running on some innocent little LC II ... I'd still pick 5.1 over any other System 7 compatible version of MS Word every day.
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68040
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512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !
Reply #6 on: September 12, 2023, 11:34
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@Bolkonskij - OK, I openly admit that I can't be an objective judge as far as resource consumption of Word (or any other behemoth software) is concerned. But your biggest turn-off - the "ugly" un-Mac like UI of Word 6 - is my biggest turn-on. I absolutely need MS-Office for work, you just can't do w/o it. And up until that idiotic ribbon UI was introduced in MS-Office, I could pride myself on being quite a Word wizard. Yet ever since I've given up on figuring out were which feature has been hidden to trial & test us Microservs. So I know how to use that outta-the-box and can work on almost every Word document I encounter during the office day. For fear of viruses they've turned off most scripting features anyway and so I can send out my finished work product w/o further ado. Strangely enough the Windoze versions of MS-Office can all read the old Word6 Mac format, whilst the modern Mac versions of MS-Office can not(!) Go figure. Now as far as xRes is concerned, I already know what I'll be using it for: Its Zoom speed far surpasses anything I've encountered thus far for vintage Mac. That goes triple for high res/true color graphics. So if I work on high end images and need to stitch up some minute details, I'll whip up xRes for that. For most other stuff I think I'll stick with PS4. I'm a hardware snob after all. PS: I'm almost done creating "The Ultimate System". After MindMapping, 3D, DB and Devlopement Suites, I've now injected tons of MultiMedia and graphic's software into my setup. I went throughg each & every title from that category on the Garden, Vintage Mac, the Internet Archives and then some. And I tested every-single-one-of-them to work on my system. If its out there and it wurks on B-II, I've got it. And Jeez, it makes being creative such a breeze.
Last Edit: September 12, 2023, 13:09 by 68040
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