Series of Questions I didn't get to ask at the Apple Store today...

Question

Hi all --
Apologies if many of these questions have already been answered, but after reading this forum for a few hours, I still wasn't sure, and I knew that at least a couple people would have the answers at the tips of their fingers, so I was hoping to make use of the group's expertise. So....
As background, I've got iPhoto6 installed on my iMac G5 2.1 Ghz with 2GB of RAM, as well as on my MacMini (connected to the big screen in the living room), and on my wife's MacBookPro. The reason I'm asking these questions in the iPhoto7 ('08) forum rather than the 6 is because I'm wondering whether it's worth upgrading my iMac (the main photo editing station) to '08, or whether that will cause more problems than it will solve.
1) Can you photocast from 7 to 6?
2) If I work in 7, will 6 be able to read the library (I assume not, but wanted to confirm).
a) assuming not, i presume i can just buy an iLife family pack, but can then i just install iPhoto (I don't want to "upgrade" to the new iMovie) without the rest of the package?
3) In "managed" mode, using 10.4.11, does 7 support incremental updates (my current library is about 25GB, and I'm backing it up to an external FW drive, but it'd be nice to be able to do incrementally, but I don't want to run the risk of referencing files)?
4) is there an easy way to review/delete items (in 6, i run a basic slideshow and delete on the fly -- is this still workable in 7?)?
5) Are there significant functionality benefits of 7 over 6 (e.g., does the noise function or shadow/highlight really offer significant benefits? The Events seems obvious, but I'm more interested in "under the hood" experience
a) Is import any faster? As my library is growing in size, the import is getting overly slow
b) do other editing tools offer better functionality
6) I'd like use it to manage some Nikon D300 RAW files, which I'd round-trip for processing to Nikon's Capture NX. Currently it seems that 10.4.11 doesn't support these files, and so I don't know if this approach will even work, but will NX work as an external editor (and will iPhoto7 manage the files with display) once 10.4.12(?) supports D300 RAWs?
7) Is there a full-screen edit mode?
8) Can you configure events so that it's not just by day?
9) Is 6's "roll" structure as mirrored in the file system still available in the Events approach, or is the database structure that once you've converted a library, there's no going back?
10) What is the effective (or advised) maximum library size? I've probably got over 60GB of images in my libraries now, with 20,000 images or so. If 7 can readily digest them (and preserve all my albums, etc.), then I'd love to combine them into one, unless that will kill performance, make the database unstable, drive backups into interminable waits, etc.
11) Finally, Aperture seems like overkill for me (despite how cool/powerful the interface looks), and I'm especially daunted if I can't easily share libraries amongst the 3 (and soon 4) Macs, but if I'm misperceiving, please correct me.
Thanks in advance for any help on these. I really appreciate it.
Alex

Answer 1

Albenn
Welcome to the Apple user discussion forums
I'll hit a few of your questions - others will have to do others since I'm not up on some of the issues you ask about
4) is there an easy way to review/delete items (in 6, i run a basic slideshow and delete on the fly -- is this still workable in 7?)?
Yes
5) Are there significant functionality benefits of 7 over 6 (e.g., does the noise function or shadow/highlight really offer significant benefits? The Events seems obvious, but I'm more interested in "under the hood" experience
Yes
Loseless editing - web galleries - events
a) Is import any faster? As my library is growing in size, the import is getting overly slow
It is fine for me (only you can compare to your current) - I have 20542 items using 26.3 GB in 271 events
7) Is there a full-screen edit mode?
yes
8) Can you configure events so that it's not just by day?
yes
9) Is 6's "roll" structure as mirrored in the file system still available in the Events approach, or is the database structure that once you've converted a library, there's no going back?
Events replace rolls (if your rolls are named - NOT the default rollxxx name - they will come across as is - to me events are rolls with much more capability and a new name - some people are VERY putoff by the change (but most love it) for reasons that I simply do not comprehend
10) What is the effective (or advised) maximum library size? I've probably got over 60GB of images in my libraries now, with 20,000 images or so. If 7 can readily digest them (and preserve all my albums, etc.), then I'd love to combine them into one, unless that will kill performance, make the database unstable, drive backups into interminable waits, etc.
The advertised max is 250,000 photos - I have about the same number of photos as you in about 1/3 the space - there are a few users here with libararies your size. With iPhoto Library Manager it is easy to maintain multiple libraries if you choose
LN
Message was edited by: LarryHN