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Comment by sabret00the | Hacker News Reader

So just out of curiosity, why doesn't Adobe embark on those two projects? We're entering a new era of desktop software, surely that should be a catalyst for redesigning both from scratch?

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Because they could knit sweaters instead and it would have about the same impact on their bottom line.

And cut all backwards compatibility in doing so? Risky move indeed. Not so sure the benefits would make up for it.

No, it wouldn't cut backwards compatibility at all. They have made plenty of additions to the format over the years, and they give you the option of saving to be compatible with previous versions. They could just keep doing that.

> They could just keep doing that

Then it wouldn't be a new, "clean" format. Then it'd be the old format with additions. Which it already is. Your post makes no sense to me.

There is no technical reason they would need to use the old fileformat at all. "Keep doing that" referred to give the user an option of what photoshop version he would like the saved file be comparible with. If he pick the latest version, the new file format would be used.

so, .psdx

Photoshop is an example of software that must also remain backward compat with the human systems that use it. There are lots of professions that are essentially "Photoshop Expert". If features are removed, altered, or even if keyboard shortcuts are changes, it has a very real effect on these peoples' livelihoods. There are few novice Photoshop users compared to other software.

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