Just to say...

[D31an]

...That each new version of Photoshop is getting more boring with its eternal hunger for more R. A. M. memory. I often get sick and tired with it and switch to Photoshop 7.0, which is a real sweet-heart! Fast and quite.

[D31an]

P. S. Not to mention FREQUENT crashes... ...And losing the work in it.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Instead of complaining (or additionaly to it, because let’s be honest: Who doesn’t like to complain at times?) you could try to do something about the crashes. 

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/basic-trouble-shooting-steps.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/optimize-photoshop-cc-performance.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/scratch-disks-preferences.html

As for the RAM: Comparing Photoshop 2021 to Photoshop 7 seems a bit moot. 

The features that Photoshop has accumulated since then (whether they are useful to you or not), the new OS’, the new hardware, … all make it seem unavoidable that the current program makes different demands on resources. 

[Derek Cross]

Some of us like the new features in Photoshop.

[Test Screen Name]

Strange that an app written today should need more memory than one released 19 years ago.

[davescm]

The size of image files that we deal with regularly today are massive compared to almost 20 years ago. Software has moved on, as has hardware. Personally, I expect my software to make full use of all the PC resources in which I run it.

This is professional software, it is up to us to provide a professional level hardware environment for it.

I can't remember the last time I had a crash in Photoshop.

Dave

[D Fosse]

Dave sums it up neatly.

I keep reading about all these Photoshop "bugs" in each new version, but I have never seen a single one of them. Photoshop is one of the most stable and rock solid reliable applications I have.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Well … Photoshop is definitely not bug-free. 

A recent one that does not affect me personnally but that has sparked huge outrage is the Save As-jpg-replace-failure. 

[D Fosse]

I'm not seeing that either.

Edit: A quick check at those threads suggests that this is exclusively a MacOS issue.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Sorry, I think it’s a bug on Mac. 

[JJMack]

Adobe need to do better while improvement  are nice a working Photoshop with fewer bugs would be better.  Adobe development procedures and testing needs to be addressed too many disruptive operational changes and outright bugs are making making Photoshop an unpleasant user experience.  User never know what Adobe will brake next will the next brake effect their work.  Adobe default of removing old version of application when a new version is install IMO boarder on user abuse. Adobe should fix their un-installers so old version can be removed at a future date without disrupting the current version.

[D Fosse]

Obviously bugs happen in Photoshop just like any other software. My point is that a very large proportion of those most frequently complained about are either elsewhere (GPU!), or underspeced/old systems. What can I say? I haven't seen any of these bugs. Honest to god.

We need to keep a bit of perspective here. A bug is by definition something that happens to very few people, and under very special circumstances. It can still be real enough for those affected, but it doesn't mean the application is "bug-ridden". For most of us, it just works.

When it does happen it can be infuriating. I get that. It can happen to me tomorrow. I know that.

The point I'm trying to make is that you need to look at your whole system. Blaming one single component in a long and complex chain, without knowing anything more, is probably tempting but never productive.

EDIT - correction: I've seen exactly one bug: the loss of file associations when uninstalling an old Photoshop version. That may well be an underlying Windows issue, but there's a very simple workaround that I think should be implemented/enforced in the CC installer: make sure all installs-uninstalls are performed in version order. That shouldn't be too difficult and will solve the whole problem.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Bit of a tangent but … there are also non-bug issues. 

Remember when Warp was impoved and the ability to add additional grid lines was added? 

Apparently in answer to a long-standing Feature Request. 

Only it missed the point of the Feature Request by including nonsensical 90˚-angle-locking when editing the bezier handles of the additional grid points. (edited)

Or when Pattern Layers were improved to allow Pattern rotation? 

Again in answer to a long-standing Feature Request. 

Only the resampling method is so economical that on certain patterns it results in very noticable artefacts compared to rotated pixel Layers or Smart Objects. 

And the Feature Request about improving the resampling method itself, whose shortcomings were already evident from Pattern scaling, was disregarded. 

Those are pet peeves of mine and I don’t see it as a problem that such things happen. 

How long they can go unresolved on the other hand seems noteworthy. 

[D Fosse]

I'm with you on the warp handles. They should fix that. Not a bug, just not thinking through the practical implications.

[Pikamachi]

PS 2021 being slow is not a very small and specific user base, it's a lot of them.

JJMack was right, why do PS intoduce such disruptive and often useless changes? Like pressing shift for transform now allows free transform when previously it's the opposite case for years?

Who asked for this? Who suggested this? Why change it without the user's consent?

Obviously you can revert it back, but why change it in the first place when it's been for years?

It's habit of removing old version while applying new one is also terrible. Had I not kept 2019, now I will be stuck with a stupidly bloated slow software update.

Updating should not such a worrisome affair.

[D Fosse]

If it's slow, a very likely candidate is the GPU/driver. Requirements increased in the latest update. A GPU that used to work may no longer be up to it. New functions and new calls to the driver may expose latent problems that were there the whole time.

Buggy video drivers has been the curse of Photoshop ever since computer games were invented. Whichever way you look at it, GPU vendors have one big profitable market: the gamers. Photoshop is very low on their horizon.

Photoshop is not slow. It is slow for some people, an important distinction. To find the cause, the whole system needs to be looked at.

[JJMack]

D Fosse I have no problem working around Adobe Bugs. That has become a requirement if you want to use adobe Photoshop. I have been using Photoshop  more than 20 years.  I started with PS 3. Every release after CS3 I have been working around  Adobe bugs. In CS2 there was a bug I needed to work around scripting Photoshop selection bounds did not work. Bugs reported 5 or 6 years ago and acknowledge by Adobe are still not fixed in any Photoshop version.   

You state you have not encounter bugs I find that hard to believe your an ACP you must use many of Photoshop features there are many bugs and many bugs have to be fixed.  When CS6 was released I could not use  it for 5 months till Adobe fixed 506 core issues in CS6.  Fixed CS6 is an excellent version of Photoshop. Released it was very unstable crash all over the places.  I do not recall a single release after CS3 the I did not ge bitten by some bug except CS4. I knew better I skipped the CS4 upgrade.

[jane-e]

---

@c.pfaffenbichler wrote:

A recent [bug] that does not affect me personnally but that has sparked huge outrage is the Save As-jpg-replace-failure. 

---

I also don't see the issues that are reported and can't remember a Photoshop crash. I think the reason I've never seen the save-over-a-jpeg-and-get-a-copy bug is that I am not in the (bad) habit of resaving jpegs.

@davescm wrote:

This is professional software, it is up to us to provide a professional level hardware environment for it.

Dave nailed it here — if we see "bugs" that aren't seen by all, then we need to examine our hardware.

~ Jane

[c.pfaffenbichler]

»I've never seen the save-over-a-jpeg-and-get-a-copy bug is that I am not in the (bad) habit of resaving jpegs.«

Just to clarify: It applies when replace-saving a jpg-copy, not when plain (and imprudently) saving a jpg. 

And it does not affect me in my work, either. 

[davescm]

I wonder if Adobe should be more realistic with their system requirements. The minimum requirements are just that and not good enough for real work. The recommended requirements are not much better.

I'm currently building a new system driven by 3D rendering requirements not Photoshop, but my 8 year old PC still runs without crashes or lags. That old system does however have:

1. Plenty of RAM - 64 GB

2. A GPU with dedicated VRAM and I use Nvidia Studio Drivers not the game ready drivers. I always clean install those and never install the NVidia GeForce experience apps.

3. A scratch disk with plenty of space - 1TB free.

4. Saving is to internal, i.e. local drives, not plug in drives. I reserve those for back up.

5. It is a desktop with plenty of cooling so it can run its processor and GPU at full speed without being throttled back in the way a laptop with inadequate cooling can suffer.

I can name also name some specific bugs in Photoshop but in daily use it is still fast and reliable with no crashes or lost work. I don't expect any less on my new system.

Dave

[D Fosse]

"I wonder if Adobe should be more realistic with their system requirements. The minimum requirements are just that and not good enough for real work."

That is absolutely true and I'm getting a bit tired of explaining what Photoshop is and what it isn't.

I'm convinced that a good half of the problems here wouldn't happen on a decently speced system. "Scratch disk full" is a classic, of course, but external disks is a good runner-up.

In fact, I would say laptops in general aren't particularly well suited for Photoshop, unless specifically equipped with terabytes of internal disk space, good cooling and, well, an external monitor. And then it's not really a laptop anymore, is it....

And then we have all the GPU problems on laptops. Two huge problems here: dual GPUs, and modified drivers/hardware (flickering, anyone?).

I know; lots of people use laptops and manage perfectly well with it. You can, if you're aware of the inherent shortcomings and take steps to work with it. But the "average" laptop off the shelf is simply not up to it.

[D Fosse]

Actually I think I can see Adobe's dilemma when I think about it some more. Yes, it's a high end professional application and as such it requires a high-performing environment to work to its full potential.

At the same time Photoshop has acquired total market dominance, to the point where Photoshop has become a verb. Everyone feels entitled to it. Photoshop Elements was supposed to take the consumer market, but it hasn't seemed to cath on. It has to be Photoshop or nothing.

That's a hard position to maintain. Where do you set the bar?

Maybe they should beef up Elements a bit, give it a little more prestige. Make it more like Photoshop, up the price a bit, just a little less demanding on the hardware.

[Pikamachi]

Agreed, what kind of nonsense is the update. I really seldom update my PS, and the moment I update it, it sucks big time.

I've been using PS 2019 just fine, then finally decided to update to 2021 yesterday, why the hell it's so slow??

It's slow in opening the app, it's slow in opening the files, it's slow even when closing the file. QA and programmres did such a terrible job. Thankfully i kept the older version.

[Derek Cross]

In addition to my iMac I have a MacBook Pro (Catalina, 13" 2018, 16GB running PS 22.2) and I never get any Photoshop crashes or speed problems.

[JJMack]

IMO Adobe Product Support for Photoshop historically has been poor and is going more down hill as time goes bye.  "As Time Goes Bye" is a great song and will live on Photoshop Fame will become  an historical Note C#