PSE 6 on Vista/WinXP problems

[bakubo]

I am having problems with Photoshop Elements 6 editor on a Vista notebook pc and I have also tried it on a WinXP notebook pc. Both have the same problems. Here are the problems:

1. I have both computers set up so that the taskbar properties are set to this:

- Lock the taskbar
- Auto hide the taskbar
- Keep the taskbar on top of other windows

I have been using the auto hide feature for many years to maximize the usable real estate when using a notebook. With all of my other programs this works fine, but with PSE 6 when I move my mouse cursor to the bottom of the screen the taskbar does not scroll up. PSE is maximized. The only way I can see the taskbar is if I first minimize PSE.

2. I discovered a resize problem with PSE 6. As you know, with a Windows app there are 3 viewing states:

a. maximized (2nd icon in upper right corner is 2 interlocking squares)
b. don't know what you call it, but it is the state where you can drag the edges of the app window to resize it (2nd icon in upper right corner is a square)
c. minimized

I just discovered that with PSE 6 that b doesn't work. You can't grab any of the edges and resize. The mouse cursor doesn't change to a double arrow when you put it over the edge of the window. If you are very careful and position the mouse cursor right on the edge you can hold the mouse button and move the edge, but it doesn't resize the window, it just moves the whole window. By the way, my PSE 6 when in state b is basically the same size as when maximized and there doesn't seem to be any way to resize it.

Does anyone else have these problems? Does anyone know how to fix them?

It appears to me that PSE 6 does not conform to the Windows standard at all. Does your PSE 6 behave the same as mine? Am I doing something wrong?

[Dusty]

I don't have PSE6, but I've seen a lot of apps that are in state b (I call it sized) that are almost maximized. If the middle box on the top right contains interlocking boxes, you're maximized. If its a single box, you're sized.

Sometimes, when you have the single box, you can take the title bar - the blue one at the top of the app - and move everything up and over enough to get to the bottom corner. Then you can size it how you want.

Dusty

[bakubo]

I don't have PSE6, but I've seen a lot of apps that are in state b (I call it sized) that are almost maximized. If the middle box on the top right contains interlocking boxes, you're maximized. If its a single box, you're sized.

Thanks for responding. Yes, I know this, but the problem is that I can't resize when it is in state b. Last night I learned that although I can't resize the normal way that if I put the mouse cursor in the extreme lower right of PSE 6 that there is one tiny spot that will allow me to resize. PSE 6 does not conform to Windows standard. Even after resizing using this procedure the mouse cursor does not change to a double arrow when placed over an edge and you can still not resize that way.

Sometimes, when you have the single box, you can take the title bar - the blue one at the top of the app - and move everything up and over enough to get to the bottom corner. Then you can size it how you want.

PSE 6 does not have a title bar. You cannot resize doing what you describe. I have the feeling you have never seen PSE 6. Is that right? PSE 6 does not conform to Windows standard and does not look like a normal Windows app. That is the problem.

[Dusty]

You're right in that I've never seen PSE. My clients don't use it and I haven't decided on PP software yet. It's just that I'm an IT pro, and it kinda comes naturally.....

I didn't know that PSE was so far off of the Windows API reservation.

Dusty

[bakubo]

You're right in that I've never seen PSE. My clients don't use it and I haven't decided on PP software yet. It's just that I'm an IT pro, and it kinda comes naturally.....

I was a software engineer for 20 years, have a CS degree, and worked with CP/M, Unix, MS-DOS, Linux, etc. and Windows since 1994 (3.1, 95, 98, Me, XP, Vista). Of course, over the course of the years I have used *many* Windows apps. PS CS2; PSP 4, 5, 6, 7, X; PWP 3.5; FastStone; Irfanview; Quicken; Word; Excel; Movie Maker; Media Player; Sony IDC; Canon DPP; Portrait Professional 6, 8; Skype; SyncBack; Picasa; Notepad; Wordpad; Calculator; and many, many more. PSE 6 is not like any of them. It does not look like a Windows app and does not behave like one. Although the basic editor functionality is good and I really like the convenience of ACR 4.6, this is the most pathetic Windows app I have *ever* used. It is a real shame. It is like the guts are good, but the skeleton is very faulty.

I didn't know that PSE was so far off of the Windows API reservation.

Yes, it is quite strange. Adobe could get some middle school and high school kids that can write the proper Windows scaffolding/skeleton for a Windows app with no problem and yet a big software company like Adobe puts out garbage like this. It is very perplexing. I know that garbage is a strong word. The guts of PSE 6 is pretty good and I see that except for shadows/highlights being only the basic version (no advanced options like in PS CS2) I could be pretty happy with just PSE 6 for 99% of my work, but the skeleton of PSE 6 is totally screwed up. I have been trying to use PSE 6 for the last week or so and I have found other weirdnesses, all related to how it doesn't work right with Windows.

It looks to me like they somehow tried to factor out most of the display handling code into a more or less transparent layer so that it will work with a Mac and Windows and maybe Linux/Unix. The result is that it doesn't work right. I checked on the Adobe forums and people say it doesn't conform to Mac standards either.