• Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
    Dedicated community for Japanese speakers
  • 한국 커뮤니티
    Dedicated community for Korean speakers
Exit
2

Why is Windows 8.1 not supported and why isn't the Map working any more?

Community Beginner ,
Dec 02, 2018 Dec 02, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Why is Windows 7 supported if Windows 8.1 is not? I would like to know what exactly are the features that work in Windows 7 but not in Windows 8.1? Or is that just some marketing bullshit?

Year ago I bought a new processor by Intel and it said Windows 8.1 isn't supported and I can't install any updates to Windows. After installing an unofficial patch everything works fine and I haven't had any problems at all. There was absolutely no problem with the hardware or the software. It was only coded to check which version of Windows is running and artificially block the updates if it was the "wrong" version. So it was just Microsoft and Intel trying to force people to update to Windows 10. Does Adobe use the same tactics or have a same kind of agreement with Microsoft as Intel has?

I know Windows 8.1 is unpopular but I haven't had any problems with it and at the moment I don't have time to upgrade to Windows 10. After all Windows 8.1 is still supported by Microsoft until 2023. As a paying customer I'm very disappointed Adobe dropped Windows 8.1 even though it continues to support Windows 7. What is the great difference that makes new versions to run on Windows 7 but not on Windows 8.1? Could you provide some technical explanations and practical examples please? Not just some vague excuses like this: "To take advantage of the continued developments in hardware and software, Creative Cloud 2019 apps do not support some older OS versions."

I would even be happy to use the old version of Lightroom but when I'm trying to use the Map, it says it isn't supported any more on the old version. At least make the map working on old versions or explain why it is not possible. I know that I need to update my system at some point but I will do it when the time is right for me. I understand I don't get any new features before updating. But I don't like how companies like Adobe are forcing their customers to update by removing features from old versions. Nowadays there are good alternatives and if this is the way Adobe operates, I'm really considering if I should continue my subscription or not.

Views

12.1K

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Dec 02, 2018 Dec 02, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I seem to remember there was a real showstopper bug in one of the system libraries that Lightroom relies on that was botched by Microsoft in windows 8.1 but worked fine in 7 and got refined by Microsoft in 10. Some people that actually use Windows might know more about this.

The map thing is caused by Google updating their mapping API some time ago which killed a lot of software. That has nothing to do with Adobe. Unfortunately they don't update older versions of their software.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
LEGEND ,
Dec 02, 2018 Dec 02, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Dec 03, 2018 Dec 03, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Was this bug already affecting to older versions or just new versions? If the first, then why don't Adobe let me install the software and let me test and decide myself if I'm happy with it or not? I have been using Adobe software on Windows 8.1 for years without any problems. Or does the bug now really prevent using the whole software and every feature in it?

So Adobe did know the Google API would stop working but didn't do anything? For me that is Adobe's problem also. At the moment they don't offer any solution for users on Windows 8.1. Upgrading OS in not that simple it could be done at any time. And I don't want Adobe to decide when I do that. Adobe is not paying for me, I'm paying for Adobe.

At least they could have given some notification. Now when I try to use the map it says I need to update but when I go to Creative Cloud I don't get any updates. Then I go to this page: Available updates not listed for Adobe Creative Cloud applications I did all the steps and spent the whole day uninstalling and installing stuff and wondering why it doesn't help. Ok, there is a small note on that page about system requirements. But it isn't the first thing that comes to mind that maybe Adobe has dropped the support for OS that is still supported 4 years by Microsoft. Maybe there should be Solution 6: Make sure you don't use Windows 8.1.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
LEGEND ,
Dec 03, 2018 Dec 03, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

On your last paragraph, the updates not showing up. You mention all day removing stuff. In that Adobe document, I think they are referring to in solution 5 of removing the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop app, not all the creative cloud programs.

Did you do that one uninstall?

Did you go and get the latest Adobe Creative C;loud Desktop App and reinstall, or did yo just reinstall the download you already have?

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
LEGEND ,
Dec 03, 2018 Dec 03, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

mikas93267824  wrote

Just out of curiosity I tried the pirate versions of Photoshop and Lightroom CC 2019 and they seem to be running very well on my Windows 8.1 machine. This makes me think there is no real reason why Adobe won't let me install them. And I think it's embarrassing for Adobe that those using pirated software get newer version than paying customers. If I get no more updates or support until some day I upgrade to Windows 10, then why would I keep paying?

It's not really a good idea to state publicly that you are using pirated versions of software ...

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Dec 03, 2018 Dec 03, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I'm not using them. Just wanted to try is it true that the new versions wouldn't run on my machine because of Windows 8.1. And obviously I couldn't try the official versions because of Adobe making stupid decisions.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Dec 31, 2018 Dec 31, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

mikas93267824​ I tried the same but the installer said not comparable with 8.1  I wish I could get it to work because we have a new camera that 7.5 can't import the RAWs from and I didn't want to have to use the digital negative converter all the time before imports.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jan 16, 2019 Jan 16, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

This is a major bummer.  I just got a new Nikon Z 6 last week and moved up from my perpetual license LR to LR CC.  I'm running Windows 8.1 and just figured that the software would be backward compatible like virtually everything else.  LR installed but only Version 7.5 and Camera Raw 10.1.  This does me no good at all!!!!!  Does anyone know whether Adobe has plans to fix this?  I don't want to do a Win 10 install on my workstation because of all the programs that currently work just fine!

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jan 16, 2019 Jan 16, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

No inside knowledge (just another user here) but it is highly unlikely that

adobe will ever release a version that is officially compatible with

Windows 8

On Wed, Jan 16, 2019 at 3:57 PM Alan Goldhammer <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jan 16, 2019 Jan 16, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Thanks, I guess I need to call Adobe support and ask for a refund since I'm running 8.1 and the product won't work.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jan 16, 2019 Jan 16, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Wouldn’t hurt to try indeed

On Wed, Jan 16, 2019 at 4:15 PM Alan Goldhammer <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
LEGEND ,
Jan 16, 2019 Jan 16, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Alan+Goldhammer  wrote

Thanks, I guess I need to call Adobe support and ask for a refund since I'm running 8.1 and the product won't work.

Or upgrade Windows to Win 10. You can still do that for free.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Feb 03, 2021 Feb 03, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Many people with older PCs (before 2011) run remarkably well under Windows 7 or 8.1. They can't install Windows 10 without serious lag and performance issues. Win 10 dislikes HDDs very much. It's not just as simple as upgrading your OS. 

 

What's asinine is how Win 8.1 is still officially supported for a few more years. Win 7 is supported via paid support. To be honest, I wish Adobe would just disappear like Adobe Flash has.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Dec 03, 2018 Dec 03, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

So Adobe did know the Google API would stop working but didn't do anything? For me that is Adobe's problem also. At the moment they don't offer any solution for users on Windows 8.1. Upgrading OS in not that simple it could be done at any time. And I don't want Adobe to decide when I do that. Adobe is not paying for me, I'm paying for Adobe.

I only know that they only provide updates to the current version of Lightroom. They don't go back to old versions and update those when external conditions such as operating systems and third-party APIs change. Also note that the folks on this forum are just other users. We are not Adobe employees. To provide feedback to Adobe, you should go to https://feedback.photoshop.com . Actual Adobe employees that have some power hang out there. Here it is just a user-to-user help forum.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Dec 03, 2018 Dec 03, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Thank you for your replys. I put messages also there but I think most people posting there are also not Adobe employees. I must say their customer service is quite poor.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Feb 16, 2021 Feb 16, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied


@mikas93267824 wrote:

Thank you for your replys. I put messages also there but I think most people posting there are also not Adobe employees. I must say their customer service is quite poor.


 

There are several differences on the Feedback site. One is that, unlike on this user forum, the Feedback site has voting to help quantify problems, and also, Adobe technical staff do participate in many of the discussions there, including actual engineers and product managers. And where you really see the results of this is every time there is a new version of Photoshop, the release notes contain a specific list of Fixed Issues in Photoshop — and each of the items in that list is typically linked right back to its thread on the Feedback forum, so that the user-reported problem and the corresponding Adobe fix are both documented in public. So instead of discussions that go nowhere, they provide some accountability and closure at least.

 

Sure, there are non-Adobe employees posting on the Feedback site, but that’s so regular users like you and me can post there. The posts you really want to pay attention to on the Feedback site are the ones labeled Adobe staff. They are often trying to gather more information to isolate issues.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Dec 31, 2018 Dec 31, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I just spent an hour with Adobe Tech support who made me uninstall lightroom classic and re-install it because I couldn't get version 8.1 to install.  He said that 8.1 works on windows 7 and up. Good thing I backed up pre-sets...


Obviously support was wrong and I now know through google searches that 8.1 only works on 7 or 10 not 7 UP!

If there was a windows library that adobe was using they could just write there own code and not use the windows API. APIs are optional always...  What ever windows API they are using no doubt wouldn't exists on a MAC so they likely wrote there own for that so why again couldn't the just write it for windows.  Now I am paying for free upgrades that i can't access.

I may as well just go pirate a copy of switch to another software because Adobe support is useless and now I don't get upgrades I am paying for.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Dec 31, 2018 Dec 31, 2018

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I should say i don't support pirating software but when Adobe gives me few options to legally do it and upgrading OS is a silly option.  That is not Adobe fixing the issue it is adobe abandoning some of its customer base.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Feb 03, 2021 Feb 03, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Good luck in finding an Adobe version that supports Win 7/8.1.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
May 06, 2019 May 06, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
May 06, 2019 May 06, 2019

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I did. It works. Sort of. It's a case of doing it just to see if it  works.

Downgrade from Win 8.1 to Win 7, install LR Classic CC 8 then upgrade to Win 8.1.

Sure you've got LR running on Win 8.1. But then you're in an unsupported environment and won't get any updates.

Not sure I'd be downgrading my operating system just to install Lightroom then upgrading back to Win 8.1. Just to avoid Windows 10?

It's a nice proof-of-concept but not really practical if you're starting from Windows 8.1.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Feb 03, 2021 Feb 03, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

That's a rather nuclear approach. I know there are hacks that allow one to install Microsoft Office 2019 in a Win 7 or 8.1 environment. There might be something similar for Adobe LC.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Feb 03, 2021 Feb 03, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

>>>That's a rather nuclear approach. 

I think I made that clear in the post.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Participant ,
Feb 04, 2021 Feb 04, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

End of support for Windows 8.1 from Microsoft was 2018-01-09. End of support for Windows 7 was 2020-01-14. Running these old versions exposes you to security risks.

Don't expect Adobe to support their software on an old unsupported OS. The easy and free fix is to upgrade to Windows 10. 

Thor Egil Leirtrø
Freelance concert photographer - thoregilphoto.com

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines