Skylum again releases a major product (Luminar 3 for Windows) before it is ready or even functional
When Skylum released Luminar 2018 a year ago, those of us on Windows (I cannot speak for the Mac version) discovered that it was nearly worthless at the initial release.
Skylum had disclosed in advanced that there were some functions/features that weren't quite finished but that those would be released by the end of Feb 2018. But that didn't happen and there were far fewer working functions than I expected. It took months more for those features and functions to all be released, with multiple missed targets by Skylum
Now, Skylum has released Luminar 3 (with Libraries) and it is again a disaster at the time of release, at least on a Windows PC.
- Unlike some, I at least got it installed. I had to completely uninstall the partial install a couple of times, restart after every attempt, and I finally got it installed.
- Then I realized that the Library wouldn't show previews of hardly any of my photos. I finally realized that it was going to take HOURS for Luminar 3 to add the previews so that when I was going through the various folders I could actually see a preview.
- Whenever I start up Luminar, it is SO slow starting that it appears to freeze on the splash screen but it isn't actually frozen it is simply glacial in loading the app.
- Yesterday afternoon it took more than 30 minutes to load the app!!!!!!
- The "DAM" is nothing more than a repeat of the Windows Explorer file list that includes previews -- and even Windows Explorer includes a Preview Pane. And that took months to reproduce???
- The "DAM" doesn't show the Keywords embedded in the photo files or much of any of the other embedded metadata.
Skylum has taught me, over the past year, to expect this type of shoddy work.
- I had hope (slight hope) that Skylum would have learned its lesson from the Luminar 2018 initial release.
- But my expectation was exactly what we got: a poor piece of Beta-ware that should have had a release version somewhere in the range of 0.3 instead of 3.anything.
- Luminar 3 (for Windows) seems like an especially poorly ported version of a Mac app. If that is not the case, then either the coders for the Windows version should be replaced or the beta users should be replaced -- or both. Someone has done a terrible job in preparing this release.
- What little credibility Skylum had with me is now gone.
- I will believe nothing that Skylum says, only what is actually released in a workable condition and only then if it receives strongly favorable reviews by actual users after the release.
You had an opportunity, Skylum, to change my impression of you -- but you blew it. Again.
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Fully agree. I am surprised that there is zero reaction from the Skylum management team on their web page to apologize for this catastrophe. Nothing in the blog and or "Leadership Notes" section of their web page.
As a side note, the Twitter link found at the bottom of nearly all pages on the Skylum web page links to an account which no longer exists. Pretty sloppy.
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Carl I fully agree with you- same experience here. Installation took 1,5h, Starting time is 6 minutes. If I edit a photo and go back to library and then back to edit, the same photo could no longer be editet by L3 (the whole filters are greyed out). And many more serious bugs. Skylum should withdraw L3, apologize for what they delivered to us and go back in development and do it right (at least this time).
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