Interesting point that you bring up. If we shoot with 9, but need to revert back to 8, what happens?
Hi Phil,
Besides the (theoretical?) 'need' to revert to any lower version of software, there is always a loss of functionality. So one has to recreate the required settings for a specific file for it to have the old 'quality' again, unless an older backup or the settings is used.
I've never had to do it myself, but I assume that a dialog would signal that an incompatible engine was used for the conversion engine, and a conversion/update of the parameters is required (which would then lose any of the improvements).
In rare situations, I suppose one could use a cloned variant and update that to the new engine, and leave the original unchanged. That would give two versions side by side. But keeping an older version backup to be used by the older version of the software may be more efficient. The Raw filedata itself remains untouched, so it's mainly parameters and settings that need saving.
But again, I've never had to do that, so it's a bit theoretical. I certainly do not want to lower the quality of my conversions to that of earlier versions.
Cheers,
Bart