Numerous problems with iPhoto '11

I'm still using iPhoto '09 on my MacBookPro 2.66 GHz i7 with 8 Gb and OS 10.8.5. As "expert" users, in your opinion is it now safe to install iPhoto '11 as long as I apply all of the OS X updates? iPhoto '11 seemed to be a nightmare for you guys when this thread started 3 years ago. Should I stay with '09 or upgrade to '11. Advantages? Disadvantages?

Thanks in advance for any of your input.

Only you can choose

It works just fine - but no one but you can choose what you want to do

LN

As an "expert" user it ws safe to install three years ago, as I did with no problems. Whenever anyone updates anything there's a chance that something might go wrong, so always have an up-to-date backup.

The GreyOne... I never had any major problems of a technical nature with iPhoto '11 but there is no denying some users had very, very painful experiences but that seems all fixed now.

When '11 first released I was very excited as I use iPhoto a lot for work and it hadn't had an update for a while.

I (as were many other users) was expecting advancements in the software. Many of us hoped it would come closer to PhotoShop Elements for example. '11 turned out to be a backwards step in that respect.
Functions were removed, workflow steps were made more cumbersome and many things just seemed to be hidden for no explicable reason with most changes just eye-candy. It wasn't just a case of 'fear of the new', '11 was and is dumbed-down.
'Expert' users offered the advice of 'well maybe you should switch to Aperture if you need those features...' or 'just write scripts to do what you need...' all of which ignored the fact that the features had been needlessly removed or hidden.

Anyway... my short answer... I tried '11 & went back to '09 which is where I still am as there are too many missing features in '11. Maybe that will change in the next version but I highly doubt it as Apple seems to be keen to make these apps more iOS-like

You might explain further which features were important to you that were dropped or hidden so that theGreyOne can assess if your concerns are valid for him.

Why Old Toad? They are very well documented already or do you think I'm just trolling?
Sigh.... for your information, the ones that impacted me & were deal-breakers... (some may have been 'fixed' or added back in)

- zoom slider gone when viewing individual images.

- merge/split buttons gone.

- right-click menu is now a simplistic-joke, most options have gone from it.

- key-words no longer under the image they are way-over on the right and are only visible on an image-by-image basis not when looking at an entire album or event

- editing panes are now fixed not floating and moveable, a serious pain on a big screen as you are trying to move a slider way-over on the right while watching changes mid screen.

- additional steps added to work-flow, you need to take more actions to get to the editing stage. Yes, I know not a big thing unless of course you have a couple of hundred images to tweak.

The thread is 30 pages long with over 400 posts in it, I don't believe that anyone will bother reading it, so I don't believe OT thinks you're trolling or anyting like that.

- zoom slider gone when viewing individual images.

That's back.

- merge/split buttons gone.

True. But merging can be done simply by dragging one Event to the other. There are various ways to split too, so while the buttons are gone there is no loss of ability

- right-click menu is now a simplistic-joke, most options have gone from it.

Not sure what options are gone, though the Show File option has moved to the File menu. But it's a while since I used 09 and my memory is far from perfect.

- key-words no longer under the image they are way-over on the right and are only visible on an image-by-image basis not when looking at an entire album or event

This remains entirely true.

- editing panes are now fixed not floating and moveable, a serious pain on a big screen as you are trying to move a slider way-over on the right while watching changes mid screen.

Editing panes remain fixed.

- additional steps added to work-flow, you need to take more actions to get to the editing stage.

Again, it's a while since I used 09 so I don't recall anything other than clicking the Edit button or command-e

On the other hand, with iPhoto 11 you get further developments in the non-destructive editing feature which makes it truly non-destructive. There are other changes in the books and slideshows.

The attached image demonstrates the difference in right-click menu functionality.

I also forgot to add that in '11 you cannot compare 2 or more photos side-by-side (to my knowledge)

You can view side by side in Edit mode and get pretty close to that in a 2-up view in thumbnail mode, but it's not the same as 09.

Yes indeed there are less options in the right-click menu. I'm not sure which version you're snapped that 11 one from but my current version has the edit options there. That said, all of the other options remain, just in different places. Duplicate (which works differently in iPhoto 11, being a version rather than a file means you can iterate and have multiple versions with no extra disk space and so on) is under the edit menu, the missing faces and reprocess Raw and the batch change are under the photos menu. I've always rated photos using the number keys, rotated with the [ and ] keys etc, so, these things don't bother me, but they certainly can be inconvenient for some folks. Again, the ability to add a keyboard shortcut to any command at all might mitigate these issues. Or might not.

do you think I'm just trolling?

Of course not. You stated that due to features that were not included or moved in the new version you didn't opt to upgate to it. All I'm asking that you inform GrayOne as to why you didn't choose to upgrade, i.e list those features/reasons. They may not be important enough to cause him not to upgrade.