He also said that while CS2 is really more for graphic artists, Lightroom is meant to be a one product solution for photographers.
Sounds like he's been reading the marketing spin. If it's repeated often enough, people will believe it, but it doesn't make it any truer. The whole Creative Suite 2 may well be for graphic artists and others, but Photoshop (from now on I'll assume you only mean Photoshop when you say CS2) has always focussed on photographers' needs and still does, as well as handling graphic artists' needs. However, if that statement has any truth it's that Photoshop isn't good enough at processing images in bulk volumes where only limited adjustments are needed, rather like how slide photographers clip test and push process rolls of film. And it's bulk processing that's become more of an issue now that digital capture is the norm in its photographic marketplace - that's why we're now seeing the programs like Lightroom, Aperture, Lightzone, Nikon Capture NX etc that are based on instruction sets rather than pixel editing. At most one might say that Photoshop wasn't designed for photographers who aren't darkroom users. There's little it can't do, so go for it now and try the Lightroom beta when it's on Windows.
He said a lot of features in CS2 will never be used by photographers, buth that Lightroom will have all of the features a photographer would want from CS2, including all photo editing, organizaiton, raw converter in a one package solution.
That's true enough, and even expert users only use a few of Photoshop's features at any one time. But there's little it can't do, and you can always get Lightroom later once it's in version 1 or 2 and it's a more mature program with its wrinkles ironed out.
I would appreciate some feedback on wheter Lightroom will indeed be a better option then CS2 (i.e. is it meant to work with or replace CS2). will it have features like HDR???
AFAIK, no. For photographers, it really replaces Bridge and ACR.
If lightroom is a better option, does anyone know what the system requirements are?? I was actually going to be ordering a PC from Dell in the next few days, and want to make sure i buy something that can support Lightroom.
Look, it's not available yet. Even if anyone told you something, you wouldn't be able to believe it until the real product came out.
I was going to be getting a dual core that has the Intel 820 processor (2.8ghz) and 2gigs of RAM, 250 to 300 gig hard drive. Will this be sufficient???
Probably. 2 gigs is a good move. Also consider the monitor - the price premium for Dell's higher quality screen is not much but it's worth the extra.
PLEASE DO NOT start A MAC vs. PC debate!!! I thought long and hard about getting a Mac, but at this time, don't have the budget for it (computer + all of the other software that would have to be replaced). I'm looking for something in the $1200-$1400 range and Dell's system is available in that range.
Get what you want. There's no reason to switch and your decision makes sense.
John
