Modified:
May 6, 2015
Created:
Apr 13, 2008
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Author:
JH

Differences between Mac and Windows versions

Updated May 6, 2015 to include ProSelect 2015r2 changes.

ProSelect has been designed to run almost exactly the same on both the Mac and Windows computers. The same ProSelect registration key will work on either platform so you can run a mix of Mac and Window computers in your studio provide you meet the licencing requirements.

Below is a list of the small differences between the Mac and Windows versions.

New Album (from the File Menu)

On Windows, when you select New Album, by default, ProSelect prompts you to select the folder of images to Import.

On the Mac, by default, this does not appear so you need to use one of the many methods to select the folder yourself (Add folder of images menu, Add folder of images button or drag the folder into the Image List). Alternatively you can switch this action back on in Preferences -> General Settings -> General -> General Defaults -> On New Album: Prompt to Add Folder.

Music 

On Windows, music is played using the VLC library (which is installed by default when you install ProSelect). This will play most windows formatted music formats. However since slideshow movies are exported from ProSelect using Apple's Quicktime libraries (which doesn't support some music file formats including .wma and .wav), it is best if you keep your music in a common file format such as .mp3 files. There are a large number of free utilities that can be used to convert music files into different formats - do a Google search for "free music converter for windows" to find these.

On Macs, Apple's AVFoundation is used to play music within ProSelect and export slideshow movies. It does not support some Window music file formats (including .wma and .wav) but will play and export most other music file formats playable on Macs. 

PhotoShop 

On Windows, Photoshop will launch automatically if required. By default, the version launched in controlled by the registry entries (it is normally the latest version). However, with 2015r2 and newer, if you have more than one version of Photoshop installed, you can select the specific version to use in ProSelect's Preferences -> General Settings -> General -> Photo Editor -> Use Photoshop version. See this article for more on how ProSelect uses Windows registry for launching Photoshop.



On Mac, with ProSelect versions before 2010r1.6, you need to launch Photoshop manually before using any commands in ProSelect that need to use it. For newer versions, if Photoshop is not running, Mac OSX will normally launch the newest version of Photoshop. If any version of Photoshop is already running, ProSelect will communicate with that version instead of launching another (possibly newer) version. Once ProSelect has successfully connected to any version of Photoshop it will always launch, if necessary,  and communicate with that same version until you re-start ProSelect.

If you have Photoshop CS5 or newer on your Mac, you need to be using Mac OSX 10.6 or newer (Snow Leopard)  and ProSelect 2011r1.11* or newer. See this article for more information on this.  *Those using ProSelect v2010r1.6 are entitled to v2011r1.11 at no cost from the old versions Downloads page.

Due to changes in Mac's Mountain Lion (OSX 10.8), we have had to make changes in ProSelect v2012r2.1 and newer to avoid intermittent lockup problems with Photoshop. Please see the  article "ProSelect on Mountain Lion" for more on this.

Mouse

There are a number of feature in ProSelect that takes advantage of the right-mouse button. If you don't have a mouse with a right-click button on the Mac, you can use the Control key while clicking to achieve the same result.

Keyboard

ProSelect adopts the standard keyboard modifiers for making selections for each Platform. This is the Control Key on Windows and the Command Key on the Mac.

Printing

There are more issues with supporting different printers under Windows. ProSelect, by default, tries to restore the last used Printer Setup settings for a printer when it is used again. In some cases, this will cause problems such as crashing or printing not working. To avoid this, the Windows version of ProSelect provides an option in the Preferences -> General Settings -> General - > Print Page Setup: Do not save. When checked, ProSelect will not reload a previously saved printer setup. This option is not shown in the Mac version.


KnowledgeBase Article: Differences between Mac and Windows versions