Unfortunately I have paid for an upgrade to Photolab 3 only to discover that it will not run on my windows 7 64 bit system. Just posting this in case anyone else is in the same position. I did not want to upgrade to Windows 10 as I do not like this version and anyway Windows 7 has been great to date!!!
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I’m in the same boat as you. Almost all of my computers still run El Capitan as its the most efficient of the modern OS X versions in terms of just working and getting in the way as little as possible. PhotoLab 3 won’t run on my computer (I’d already paid for the update).
There’s very little about the systems requirements on the DxO home page. I’ve dug around and found them here.
Windows 8.1 or Mac OS X 10.13 (High Sierra). If I do upgrade, I’ll go as far as High Sierra (I prefer to skip two or three versions but my MBP won’t go as far as Mojave and if they did, I don’t like it: I have it Mojave on one computer).
I’m also wondering if DOP files will be readable between versions 2 & 3 of PhotoLab. I can’t really only have access to works in progress on a single computer.
It’s a pity DxO are not supporting 10.11 on Mac and Windows 7, as I don’t believe PhotoLab uses any technology only available in the latest versions.
Because microsoft stopped supporting win7 only win10 dxo does the same in v3.
So you need win10. Or the upgraded win8.1 to win10.
Edit, win 8.1 also. Hmm that’s just a early win10. So why stay on win8.1.
DxO supports those OS, Apple and Microsoft supports.
For Apple that’s the last three versions.
For MS it’s 8.1 and above. Win 7 will be considered legacy early next year.
Stay on earlier OS means no security updates and no support.
I am never upgrading to Windows 10 so I guess no PhotoLab 3 for me then. I have two custom built and performance tweaked Windows 7 PCs that I intend to keep for a very very long time.
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And that’s your prerogative. 
When was the last time you got useful support from Apple? I can safely say it was probably 2014 or earlier. Apple doesn’t even honour Apple care any more.
Security: how much extra protection do you think these “new” OS really provide? Just stop using the built-in browser and use a secure third party web browser.
FUD, Required. A genuine conspiracy to keep us all on the upgrade train. You need the latest OS for this application, you need the latest application for this OS. Oh, sorry you can’t run the latest OS on this old hardware. It’s a giant whirlpool to empty our pockets unnecessarily and put perfectly good electronics into landfill. Worse than having our pockets emptied is the endless time and inconvenience of most of these OS updates.
There’s few industries as greedy and spoiled as IT (MIC comes to mind). DxO are just small players in this global IT market, not market setters so I’m not specifically criticising DxO. Until this recent update, DxO was rather better behaved in terms of OS requirements than most other software companies.
Still trying to decide if I will refund my upgrade as it won’t run on most of my computers (which I have no intention of updating just yet).
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So that means that you are no longer licensed to use PL2?
It’s your choice to use what ever OS version you want.
But Apple have chosen to support three concurrent versions and Microsoft two although a longer time span.
And DxO follow them. So do many others. Some way more sparse, others a bit relaxed. Adobe accepts 10.12 but only windows 10.
But you choose which OS you want to run. Perhaps PL do work even though the don’t support it.
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Hello,
Microsoft announced the end of support of Windows 7 so it would be unfair if we stops the support in the middle of PL3 life cycle. In your case I think you can ask for a refund.
Regards,
Svetlana G.
Windows 7 will be EoL beginning of next year. You need to understand that, software developers can’t provide permanent support for an old OS. No matter if it’s OSX, iOS, Android, Windows etc. Doing so will cause the landscape to be too fragmented, which will make it harder to optimize solutions (e.g. in terms of performance, features etc.). It’s a logical choice. Nevertheless, I do understand that this can be difficult for some customers who either can’t (due to old HW) or don’t wish to upgrade.
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Disappointing as windows 7 support does not stop until 14 January 2020. Is there a technical reason why this had to be excluded early?
Very well said! My Windows 7 system with earlier version of PL runs extremely well so agree with you that there should be no need to consign it to landfill! Just extremely disappointed I can’t now install upgrade to PL3!
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I can follow the argument from Robert above. If I was a software developer I would not support 7 either.
It is old, will soon not even be supported by Microsoft. It would to much hassle in the future.
But I can understand the people who work with Win 7 too.
Yes there is. This software gets periodically updated with new versions throughout its life with bug fixes, new cameras and lenses, and feature enhancements. Even if they took the effort to support PL3 on the current Windows 7 platform until Microsoft completely abandons support, after January you would not be able to install any new updates once DXO stops supporting that platform. It would put DXO into a support quagmire, by ending support of PL3 on the Windows 7 platform during its active life. Users would rightly be incensed. Better to not support it from the outset.
Mark .
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Why would DxO removed its support because Apple or Microsoft removed their theoretical stamp of approval from an OS out in the wild? It makes no sense. Do you start driving your cars off cliffs when Mercedes or BMW no longer make OEM replacement parts?
PS. Sigi’s remarks about the updates have been far more annoying than yours Svetlana. It’s sad to see grown men so cowed by technology companies.
Unless DxO is using technology from the new OS which can’t be easily replicated in the previous baseline OS (Windows 7 and OS 10.11 I believe), there’s no sense in cutting off users. I’ll probably have to refund as well as I don’t want to update all my laptops from the very productive OS 10.11 and I certainly don’t want to be running two different versions of PhotoLab at the same time. The joy of PhotoLab is being able to move files around between computers and work on them everywhere, thanks to the DOP files taking priority over the database.
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I was, initially, reluctant to upgrade to Win10 (from Win7) too … mainly because I don’t like the standard Win10 user-interface; all those Tiles look far too distracting and annoying to me !
But, I made the switch some time ago - and soon found that I could adjust the UI to my liking (see here) - - and I’m now very happy with the Win10 environment.
There will be some users who need the ability to continue running 16bit apps - - so, that makes it difficult to move from Win7 … Otherwise, tho, I’d encourage you to make the switch-over.
Regards, John M
The telemetry in Windows 10 is almost impossible to turn off. Windows 10 is full time 24/7 spyware/surveillance gear.
As Windows 10 is free, Microsoft has an almost free hand in what they can put inside. So DxO is cutting its users off from an OS which can be made secure (Windows 7) to force them to bring spyware into their homes. Not nice, not cool.
I understand about not supporting Linux (there’s almost no financial rewards there and almost infinite technical pain) but the technical pain involved in supporting Windows 7 for another five to seven years would be extremely finite. If I’m wrong on a technical basis (an advised opinion from a DxO developer with specifics, not an armchair copy and paste FUD report from good corporate citizens, yes men and conformists), I’d love to hear why.
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Security vs integrity are two different things.
EOL in Windows means less security although it can still support good integrity in the aspect that it does not call home. Though without technical security we all might find our dearly cared integrity breached anyway in the cyber related incident.
When it comes to underlying API calls they often changes together with supported systems. When one is declared legacy by the manufacturer and another newer is considered the replacement, supporting them both might mean additional workload for the app developer.
I’m not saying that is the case with DxO but there are many companies that are far more restrictive than DxO about supporting previous systems.
In the end it’s their choice to support this or that and ours to accept it or not.
I love Apples approach towards integrity and security but I still think they royally messed up a lot for us when they dropped Aperture.
Same with Google’s purchase of Nik, causing Nikon loosing CNX2.
On the other hand it meant that I choose to go with PhotoLab as main raw developer and Photo Supreme as DAM.
And I’m very happy with that now.
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There is a small piece of software called O&O Shutup10. When you enable the recommended settings, it will also disable almost all spyware, including telemetry. Highly recommended.
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