If you keep a close eye on Mac users who work with images, you've probably noticed two very interesting details: they are tired of the subscription model adopted by Adobe, and they see Affinity Photo as an excellent replacement. Exclusivity barriers always become a problem, but its developer promised earlier this year that it would work on a Windows version. Well... promise kept. Affinity Photo has a public beta on Windows, and you can download the latest build right now.
A welcome competition
Competition is welcome, whether in hardware or software. Adobe Photoshop and its direct allies turned into de facto tools for an increasingly demanding market, but sooner or later everyone looks to change the rules once they reach a dominant position, and Adobe was no exception. The subscription model, besides being costly in the long run, is seen as tedious by a good part of users, and step by step, an alternative called Affinity Photo began to emerge. Its reception was so good that Apple declared it best app of 2015, and with a fixed price of $50, many didn't think twice. Now, what about Windows? The next major update of Windows 10 is supposed to be oriented to creators, but there's no need to worry. Affinity Photo won't miss the party, and it already offers a public beta for Windows users.
What Windows users can expect
If you want to get the beta, you can register on the official page (link below). According to available data, Affinity Photo is already removing its last sharp edges in terms of stability. As for its requirements, it needs at least Windows 7 SP1 with up-to-date updates, and in a 64-bit version, which the processor must also support. Affinity Photo will be able to use any dedicated GPU without issues, provided it has DirectX 11 compatibility. The folks at Serif, who develop Affinity Photo, gave to understand that licenses are not transferable. In other words: if you have the program on Mac, you'll need to buy it again for Windows.
Affinity Photo under Windows will not have any reduced function or major change compared to the Mac build, so the transition process will be as smooth as possible. As for moving from Photoshop to Affinity, the programs share several keyboard shortcuts, and most people talk about a fairly friendly learning curve. The download will be free as long as it remains in public beta. Don't miss trying it.
Official site: affinity.serif.com
