After months of testing and evaluation (starting with the beta), and the recent releases of many compatible tools and subsystems I determined Windows 7 has all of what I need to become the basis of my development and photographic operations.
I've switched my main operations to my new Windows 7 workstation, running Windows 7 x64. So far it's great; Windows 7 is actually more mature than any freshly released Microsoft operating system so far, though it's not without it's little roughnesses around the edges. I haven't had even one crash yet; it's very solid.
Alas my prior workstation has become just a file server. Poor thing.
I HAVE had to overcome several obstacles creatively, however. One of these is that Canon does not support (and appears uninterested in creating) 64 bit Explorer codecs. To be accurate, they DO have codecs for showing Raw files in Windows 7, but
only for 32 bit versions of the OS. Seems odd, because x64 is the clear choice for a professional who requires maximum performance from a Windows setup.
Unfortunately, the dodge I had been using to see Canon raw file thumbnails in Windows Vista x64 no longer works in Windows 7: With Vista I was specifically running the 32 bit build of Explorer, complete with the Canon codec and many other 32 bit enhancements.
The time of Microsoft providing that level of compatibility is apparently over.
Running the 32 bit Explorer WAS actually possible in the Windows 7 betas, but as of the release, the ONLY Explorer window you can open is a 64 bit program. Thus Canon's codec can't work.
However, I did find some "donationware" online that will do the job, integrating raw file formats into Explorer x64:
Fast Picture Viewer | WIC RAW Codec Pack for Windows 7, Vista and XP
I've installed the above and it appears to very nicely solve the problem: Now my raw files look and work as good as JPEGs in Explorer, Windows photo viewer, etc. You can even set it to extract the embedded JPEG for extremely quick operation.
I'm a happy camper.
-Noel
Linear Mode
