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Participating Frequently
June 11, 2013
Answered

Why no Vista 64 bit compatibility for Lightroom 5?

  • June 11, 2013
  • 6 replies
  • 17325 views

Please don't point me to the system requirements; I've already read again and again that Only Windows 7 or 8 are compatible with LR5.

What I want to know is WHY was Vista 64 bit supported with the Lightroom 5 Beta but now not for the current full release of LR5? Sucks to have been led to believe Vista would still be supported, due to the inclusion of VIsta 64 support on the Beta version, only to find the full release does NOT support VISTA.

And does "not supported" mean it truly won't install and be useable with Vista 64, or does it simply mean you won't provide tech support?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Jeffrey_A_Wright

Janie please see http://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/windows-vista-supported-lightroom-5.html.  Also from posts I have seen you will not even be able to install under Windows Vista.  I would recommend upgrading your operating system to Windows 7 or later if you wish to install Photoshop Lightroom 5.

6 replies

Participant
August 20, 2013

Adobe thinks we are made of money.  First they force us to the cloud at double the cost for photographers and now they demand we just up grade windows.

areohbee
Legend
August 20, 2013

TYork52 wrote:

Adobe thinks we are made of money.  First they force us to the cloud at double the cost for photographers and now they demand we just up grade windows.

Obviously there is a support issue, since it runs OK on Vista. Adobe/Lr has so many system-dependent problems, they don't want to make things more complicated by tossing OS variations into the mix. Understandable for them, good for all of us not on Vista (since they're not spending dev time testing on Vista), and bad for Vista users who don't want to upgrade. Oh well... .

I mean, such is my fairly-well-educated guess...

If I were you, I'd patch the installer, and install it on your Vista system, if you can't afford to upgrade Windows.

Conversely, if you can afford to upgrade, that is a better solution in the long run, in my opinion.


R

August 20, 2013

Rob Cole wrote:

If I were you, I'd patch the installer, and install it on your Vista system, if you can't afford to upgrade Windows.

Conversely, if you can afford to upgrade, that is a better solution in the long run, in my opinion.


R

I did buy W7 full and a new hard drive to install it on.  The install couldn't finish on three different attempts.  I put in my Vista disk, installed without problems. 

My optimized Vista system runs better than my optimized W7 system.  For some reason I keep getting intermittent app loading pauses in W7 on a quad core that I never get in Vista.  They're both optimized almost identically. 

For some reason W7 doesn't like me.  Fully patched Vista has been nothing short of amazing to me.

July 6, 2013

The lack of compatibility after having it in the beta seems stupid, inconsiderate, flawed... A pain in the butt for me personally.

July 1, 2013

Pure and utter BS.  My Vista system runs better than my W7 system with similar specs.  They're the same code base...  not including Vista support is a mistake.

And getting a refund... I need to open the product, register then deactivate it?  How can I do that when the thing won't even install??  The support pages just refer you to links that bounce back and fourth.  I guess I'll have to randomly call the numbers listed...

DdeGannes
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 1, 2013

There is no deactivate option in LR as there is in Photoshop CS or Elements.

Regards, Denis: iMac 27” mid-2015, macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur; 2TB SSD, 24 GB Ram, GPU 2 GB; LrC 12.5,; Lr 6.5, PS 24.7,; ACR 15.5,; (also Laptop Win 11, ver 24H2, LrC 15.0.1, PS 27.0; ) Camera Oly OM-D E-M1.
Participant
June 30, 2013

I "upgraded" my version of Lightroom 4 to Lightroom 5 due to the following statement found here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom/faq.html

Are the features the same in the Windows and Mac OS versions of Lightroom?

Yes. Lightroom 5 has the same features and delivers the same professional, best-of-class results no matter which platform you use.

Very deceiving as an upgrade ! This is definitely not a true upgrade. Windows 7 or 8 is a requirement. My main photo editing OS is Vista and I am unable to install it. WHO in their right mind will purchase a new OS ( 7 or 8) and have to re-install all their current favorite phot apps ? I do have a second computer I have Lightroom installed on and was able to "Upgrade" that one to Lightroom 5. HOWEVER it did not recognize my current catalogue. You have to Import all your RAW files and start from scratch.

I believe many current users will be migrating to another photo-editing software ( Photoshop will only be available on the cloud) Not sure if Adobe plans to do the same with Lightroom too. 

areohbee
Legend
June 30, 2013

EDDGO01 wrote:

and have to re-install all their current favorite phot apps

You can upgrade your OS without having to re-install apps.

Participating Frequently
June 19, 2013

As_Seen_ by_Janine wrote:

What I want to know is WHY was Vista 64 bit supported with the Lightroom 5 Beta but now not for the current full release of LR5? Sucks to have been led to believe Vista would still be supported, due to the inclusion of VIsta 64 support on the Beta version, only to find the full release does NOT support VISTA.

Actually, even in Beta, Adobe said there is no Vista support even in Beta (read the beta released note). And people have been arguing a lot about this in the Beta Forum. Honestly, I think it's pointless to ask why. It's the same with windows XP. I don't think Adobe will change it. And no good reason will be accepted by users like us. Pretty much, we only have 2 choices: Upgrade OS or keep using LR4 (or switch to another software). Guess what, it's $150 less for Adobe and I don't think it makes any different to them.

Jeffrey_A_Wright
Community Manager
Jeffrey_A_WrightCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
Community Manager
June 11, 2013

Janie please see http://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/windows-vista-supported-lightroom-5.html.  Also from posts I have seen you will not even be able to install under Windows Vista.  I would recommend upgrading your operating system to Windows 7 or later if you wish to install Photoshop Lightroom 5.

Participating Frequently
July 7, 2013

I have written a very details step-by-step tutorial on how to upgrade an older PC operating system to Windows 7 in order to be able to run Adobe's new Lightroom 5. Find it on As Seen by Janine's Photo Blog. Hope others find it helpful and please share the link to anyone you think could use the information. http://asseenbyjanineblog.com/tutorials/upgrade-pc-operating-system-to-run-lightroom5/

Participating Frequently
July 19, 2013

The installer don't want to install it on Windows Vista. But you can patch the MSI file to even install it on Windows Vista.

I've written a small manual how to install Lightroom 5 on Windows Vista. http://www.doerg.es/doku.php?id=start:computer:lightroom5vista

I hope this helps some people who are trying to install Lightroom 5 on Windows Vista even if it's not supported by Adobe.

And I hope this won't be removed by Adobe.


Glad you found a workaround. Just want to mention, again, that my computer is far more efficient now that I'm running on Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 than it ever was on Vista. So those of you holding out, may want to reconsider as you find less and less things compatible with Vista.