Capture One V. 12: Don’t “Try It”

[MGrayson]

I recommend that anyone testing new software follow this simple decision tree:
Can I test it on a copy of a small sample first? Yes? do so.
Else, is it obvious how to restore the older version? It almost never is, so..
Get downgrading instructions before firing up new version.

All frustration and anger with Software provider avoided.

Phase One has never been famous for their DAM. It is natural to approach a new version with caution.

And backup backup backup, and then backup more.

M

 

[Geoff]

This may be more a situation of an unintended consequence than anything else. Keep in mind that:

- its easy enough to restore the old one
- there was at least a small warning (could have been bigger) given

The issue of the ramifications of updating has shown up elsewhere. Note the recent airline disaster in the Far East.

Another experience was with some system software, which occurred because of updating the home computer from Mac OS system 10.11 (I think) to 10.13. This automatically and without notice (!) included an updated Numbers application, so that spreadsheets, once opened at home, were unreadable on an older system at the office. Note the older system wasn't that old either... All this with no notice, and no way back. Efforts to run a backup didn't work - moderately recent Numbers software isn't available. The only way was to update all the other computers too. And this was not even that major of an upgrade.

So when C1 both allows for an easy way back and even mentions implications, I'm inclined to be more thankful than angry.

 

[theis]

This may be more a situation of an unintended consequence than anything else. Keep in mind that:

- its easy enough to restore the old one
- there was at least a small warning (could have been bigger) given

on a Windows system, you can just restore from a system restore point taken before v12 was installed. provided you have one. but shame on you, Phase One!

 

[Pemihan]

Since I was still running El Capitan I needed to upgrade my 5.1 Mac Pro to High Sierra (am skipping Mojave for now) in order to install C1 12. Before upgrading I did a backup of my C1 Session file (am running one big session) and then did a backup of all my hard drives, three copies of each. Only then did I install High Sierra and then C1 12. This is what I do before installing any significant software including the OS. Common sense for me at least.
I keep my backups both on site and off site. No use in only having the backups on site if the house burns down or there's a break-in where they take off with all your computer stuff including the backups.

Speaking of C1 12 I found it to be painfully slow when starting up the app (not sure why, haven't looked into it yet). I reverted back to v 11 by deleting the v 12 session file in the Capture One folder and renaming the v 11 session file (removing the .backup suffix). No big deal but I understand that this can be somewhat hard to figure out if you're not computer savvy (like my wife ) and agree that Phase One could make it easier to downgrade with for instance a small piece of code within the app or a small downgrade app. Shouldn't be to hard to do. That said they give you a warning before installing so one could look into how to use the backup before upgrading in case a downgrade was needed.

 

[bab]

Wow this is a crazy story. If I understand before upgrading a screen pops up and the user is supposed to read and rationalize what will happen if you choose to go forward with the upgrade (in a sense the free trial).
As Doug stated it’s obvious that the monthly subscription assuming your a dedicated user is the only way to go. This gives you the continued free updates and if you exclusively use capture one why not, unless the monthly is a newly introduced plan then you would have to decide if paying the monthly is worth the switch over.
If capture one needed to use the catoluge images to run and there is no way around it using the old catalogue to test the new software then perhaps the pop up window could have been detoxed from engineers language.
To me the monthly charge comparing the fee to Adobe for example is not a good deal. PO has its pricing based on the size of the company you could also conclude that Adobes fee for the size of it company its outrages. However Capture one isn’t PS and can’t take the image as far to the final image point.
PO has always had for the sake of repeating myself over the last 10 years lease to own pricing, and had they offered cash value pricing I would be. PO shooter.

 

[pegelli]

From a customer perspective I would expect a difference in installation/operation between a genuine "upgrade/update" and a "30 day free trial".

In case that is not possible (hard to imagine, but I'm not a programmer) I would expect, again from a customer perspective, much clearer/frequent warnings as well as easy to find and user friendly instructions what to do when the trial period is over.

I think not every photographer who uses these programs is computer savvy enough to handle this based on only one cryptic "engineering lingo" pop up at the first start-up. Not everybody will remember what pop-up windows actually said after 20 or 25 days when you want to end the free trial without a purchase.

 

[hcubell]

The good news is that, thanks to Doug Peterson, I have been able to work this out with Phase One. I think Phase One now understands how easy it is to be confused about how to revert to earlier version of Capture One if you do not have a good understanding of how Capture One works under the hood.
This could easily have been averted with a clear warning, or, if you don’t like warnings, an “explanation”, along the following lines: “If you have downloaded this software pursuant to our 30-day trial and you are currently running a prior version of Capture One, a new Catalog will be created when you open v.11. This Catalog will not be compatible with prior versions of Capture 1. If you should decide not to purchase v. 11 or you want to use your prior version of C1 in the future for whatever reason, you will need to follow these steps. [Clear explanation of required steps]

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

IMHO, but I'm not a programmer neither, nor an experienced C user, P1 may well issue this "roll back" information at the time you start rolling back to your previous version ... Since the v12 is out only since a few days, very few people roll back at this moment, I suspect ... I for one, do not ...

Have a peaceful first day of winter,
Rafael