Windows XP and Lightroom 4

Question

I am very interested in Adobe Lightroom 4.  However, I don't believe it works with "WindowsXP"?  Could someone advise me as to which would be the best (and easiest) Adobe product that works with XP? Thank you!

Answer 1

First of all, you have to realize that we are all just users. You are not talking to Adobe employees, although occasionally someone from Adobe will comment here. Photoshop Elements is a very good place to start. I don't know anything about the software that you are using. I have never used it or even looked at their website to see what it is all about. With the camera the you have, you are probably considering shooting raw images. Photoshop Elements relies on a plug-in, Camera Raw, to process raw images. It doesn't have as many features in Photoshop Elements as it does in Photoshop. But there is a big price difference, and you may find Photoshop Elements adequate for what you need. Many people use Lightroom in addition to Photoshop Elements because Lightroom provides all of the raw editing capability that is available from Adobe. Then, they use Photoshop Elements as their external editor which can be accessed directly from the Lightroom interface. But the problem is that you cannot use Lightroom 4 with Windows XP.
The Lightroom and Camera Raw processing has improved greatly. It would be well worth your considering a new system with a more contemporary operating system. But, in the meantime, I think I would recommend that you look at Photoshop Elements and learn how to use all of the features it has to offer. If/when you decide to update your system you can still use that program. And if you decide to incorporate Lightroom into your workflow everything should work well together.