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Extremely disappointed that this installs as an "App" and not regular software program


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35 minutes ago, ChopperNova said:

This is what I did, but no guarantee it won't mess things up worse, although that's kinda hard to imagine...

First, close all your Affinity programs apps, then go to where you unzipped, and find the folder affinity-photo-2.0.0\App\Resources\Affinity%20Photo. (Yes, it actually has a %20 in it😖). It should be full of files like "assets.propcol", etc. Then find directory: C:\Users\<usernamehere>\.affinity\Common\2.0\user, (note the dot in .affinity, and it may be hidden). COPY the first, unzipped folder into the second, overwriting existing files. Next time you start a V2 program app, default stuff should be there, and they should share between programs apps.

Worked.  Thanks.  Now I can get familiar with V2 as I wait until I can do a valid installation.

 

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8 minutes ago, rvst said:

I have the same laptop. The reason it's not Windows 11 ready is because it does not have a Trusted Platform Module, which is required for Windows 11 to function. A TPM is either a physical addon card or an eTPM implemented in firmware by later generations of processors. 

I updated the TPM yesterday via firmware update from Dell.  I had hoped that was something keeping my V2 install from happening.

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I think It's obvious by now how Affinity/Serif feel about the app route but nonetheless that's what they have chosen. Whether they eventually decide to release a normal installer or not will of course be their decision. Maybe this will be influenced by sales/ refunds/etc - we will just have to wait and see.

I and the 3 other PC's that have MS Store disabled will stay on V1. Making alterations to the app or registry can be fraught with danger and whilst V2 may be a first class app, it's also how it interacts with other installed programs which seems to be hit and miss. Whilst suggestions made by the mods are appreciated, it simply should not be necessary. I'm sure they've all got better things to do.

Why Affinity/Serif did not release a standard installer in conjunction with the MS App Store I guess we'll never find out. There are several large corporations that have gone down the MS Store app route but at the same time have made available a stand-alone conventional installer. Also, it's not totally accurate to state that sandboxed apps are more secure. Much of it depends upon the security enabled on the PC and the MS Windows site plus the general internet is littered with tales of woe.

If V2 stays purely as an app then so be it. If/when a better alternative to V1 comes along then I'll probably jump. I cannot though see any point in getting hot under the collar, frustrated, spending time on workarounds, pointing fingers at whoever - V2 is what it is at the moment and several posters need to take a chill out pill in my book.   

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1 hour ago, Patrick Connor said:

It's new technology, and people don't like the change, as it's less flexible. Whether that makes it wrong depends on a trade-off with the benefits it also brings 

So, less flexible is good? ;^)

I love advancement in technology and software. I don't mind change per se--as long as change fits the advancement in technology/software thing; as long as change is beneficial to me; as long as change, to be crass, makes me more money. 

I can only assume Serif wholly believes this technology is beneficial to itself.

I am uncertain that there is a real advantage and/or benefits to myself. Time may reveal that to me. Then again, my avatar reveals I'm a dunce...

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1 hour ago, JimInFlorida said:

MY XPS-15 is a 9550, a few years old.  For some odd reason it does not show as having the right variation of processor to go to Win11.  I am content with W10. 

There is a simple registry entry that you can use to overcome the TPM and CPU issue. All it does is stop Win11 checking your minimum requirements. I run both Win11 and 10 and frankly in my view Win11 is just the same as 10 with different lipstick - you're not missing out on anything in my book and unless you disable certain elements of 11, it just seems more intrusive. 

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39 minutes ago, Patrick Connor said:

It may well get you running but the software is unsupported unless you can get it installed, sorry 

Somehow this isn't sinking in to you guys, but on many machines that could support a regular installer, it cannot be installed as provided. Period. That's kinda the problem.

The only plausible reason for continuing this idiocy is that you are contractually obligated to supply it as a MSIX, and maybe the suits would have to forfeit their MS stock option perks. Or there's been a strategic decision to compete with the Paint.NET, or go after the people who always wanted to run Photoshop on the Zune.

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8 minutes ago, ChopperNova said:

The only plausible reason for continuing this idiocy is that you are contractually obligated to supply it as a MSIX, and maybe the suits would have to forfeit their MS stock option perks. Or there's been a strategic decision to compete with the Paint.NET, or go after the people who always wanted to run Photoshop on the Zune.

None of that is true. Reasons can be found at the FAQ:

 

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9 minutes ago, Mark Ingram said:

None of that is true. Reasons can be found at the FAQ:

While I won't be nearly as eloquent as @ChopperNova, the FAQ doesn't address what might be the core issue. The question isn't, "Why did you choose MSIX." Rather, it's "Why didn't you offer both?"

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18 minutes ago, ChopperNova said:

Somehow this isn't sinking in to you guys, but on many machines that could support a regular installer, it cannot be installed as provided. Period. That's kinda the problem.

The only plausible reason for continuing this idiocy is that you are contractually obligated to supply it as a MSIX, and maybe the suits would have to forfeit their MS stock option perks. Or there's been a strategic decision to compete with the Paint.NET, or go after the people who always wanted to run Photoshop on the Zune.

Wow ! @ChopperNova you smoked good stuff !

-- Window 11 - 32 gb - Intel I7 - 8700 - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
-- iPad Pro 2020 - 12,9 - 256 gb - Apple Pencil 2 -- iPad 9th gen 256 gb - Apple Pencil 1
-- Macbook Air 15"

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On 11/12/2022 at 8:25 AM, Mark Ingram said:

You can change the drive after the app has been installed by going to Installed apps in Windows' Settings:

image.png

Thanks Mark.  I'm running out of options because the 'move' operation didn't work for me.  The following is the error I get when trying to move it and I've tried about 6 different 'solutions' in the MS forums.   None of them work.   Target drive has about 140GB free and is not encrypted or compressed.  Sigh.   Seriously, I spend 40+ hours a week at work with these kind of headaches and I just don't have the energy or interest anymore to research this at home (where I have it installed).   I'll give this another 2 days and if there isn't an alternate installation process by Tuesday night, I'm requesting a refund (from the Affinity store) and I'm not even going to think about V2 for about another year and see if things have improved by then.  This is the error I get when I try to move it off my c drive:

image.png.a9f8eb39e8b8d8ff31e0fa6558854987.png

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8 minutes ago, Mark Ingram said:

None of that is true. Reasons can be found at the FAQ:

 

Mark, The majority of the benefits you cite appear to lie in reducing Serif's support burden as it pertains to the installation of the software, which I can appreciate as being an important business level metric you need to keep on top of - unnecessary support costs nail business profitability. 

The very few user benefits apparent in that document (clean uninstall, signed updates) are minor enough that they're well outweighed by the inconveniences users are experiencing. Said inconveniences are already visibly causing Serif a support burden that I suspect outweighs the support burden associated with Affinity V1 installs, if the length of this thread and the numerous other related threads are anything to go by. 

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13 minutes ago, TychoBrahe said:

Thanks Mark.  I'm running out of options because the 'move' operation didn't work for me.  The following is the error I get when trying to move it and I've tried about 6 different 'solutions' in the MS forums.   None of them work.   Target drive has about 140GB free and is not encrypted or compressed.  Sigh.   Seriously, I spend 40+ hours a week at work with these kind of headaches and I just don't have the energy or interest anymore to research this at home (where I have it installed).   I'll give this another 2 days and if there isn't an alternate installation process by Tuesday night, I'm requesting a refund (from the Affinity store) and I'm not even going to think about V2 for about another year and see if things have improved by then.  This is the error I get when I try to move it off my c drive:

image.png.a9f8eb39e8b8d8ff31e0fa6558854987.png

Wow, this forum is getting so tyrannical that even the act of Liking posts is censored/controlled.

I just wanted to express the sad emoji for you from a Like. Looks like I am only allowed once a day now.

Since I haven't heard back from the refund department I just installed Photo 2 and then added a shortcut on the desktop and had to create an ico file. I grabbed the icon.png from the MSIX file and created one from it. All this just to get a shortcut with an ico on the desktop.

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9 minutes ago, rvst said:

Said inconveniences are already visibly causing Serif a support burden that I suspect outweighs the support burden associated with Affinity V1 installs

Presumably Serif know the true extent of successful MSIX installations by the number of purchased vs activated numbers, that is assuming they measure by platform (which is what I would do).

I did read the FAQ about the MSIX installer and it's first item is that it promises 99.9% successful installs. I don't know where that number actually comes from (maybe here: What is MSIX? (Microsoft site)). But maybe the promise hasn't turned out so well in practice, for Affinity at least.

I am a Mac user so this particular issue doesn't apply to me. But I bought a Universal licence with the thought that in the back of my mind I might get a Windows box again and not pay for a separate licence.

 

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6 minutes ago, Mark Ingram said:

None of that is true. Reasons can be found at the FAQ:

 

Yes, but I said plausible reasons.

So 15% of Windows machines can no longer install software the way everyone's installed software since Windows 95, and only 0.1% of the people who try to install V2 are having issues?

The technical reasons are dubious at best,as others have detailed.

That you padded the list with Microsoft Photos integration app is hilarious 🤣.  I'm sure that was a pressing issue among the engineering staff, and a highly requested feature from users who wanted to integrate exclusively with Microsoft Photos while disintegrating with literally everything else.

You've got a software engineering staff that's second to none, but everything else is decoupled from reality. I haven't seen even the slightest indication that anyone there knows how, or even why, your products are used in the real world. It's infuriating, and depressing.

And the You'll Take Your Medicine and Like It  shtick is wearing thin.

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48 minutes ago, keithwjones said:

 

Dude!   Third time was the charm.   Freaking Windows.   Drives me crazy sometimes.    Seriously though, thanks for that tip.   I had to attempt the move a couple of more times (didn't even reboot between) and about an hour apart, and I've confirmed on the third try that it did work and the location is indeed my E drive now.

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53 minutes ago, Delphi said:

Wow, this forum is getting so tyrannical that even the act of Liking posts is censored/controlled.

I just wanted to express the sad emoji for you from a Like. Looks like I am only allowed once a day now.

Since I haven't heard back from the refund department I just installed Photo 2 and then added a shortcut on the desktop and had to create an ico file. I grabbed the icon.png from the MSIX file and created one from it. All this just to get a shortcut with an ico on the desktop.

I went to the start menu list, pinned the 3 programs to the start menu, pinned them to the taskbar then I dragged them off the start menu to the desktop and all 3 had icons as they should. That was a day after an easy install. Getting them on the start menu, taskbar and desktop took under 1 minute, probably 30 seconds max. Old windows pc. I do not clutter my desktop with icons, I keep them on the taskbar (11 but room for 32 or more or start menu (82 with room for another 50 or so) where they belong (in my opinion) only need recycle bin on desktop..

 

I can't understand why people are so against it as an app. I don't like windows apps but not because they are apps, just because they are crap. 

Affinity is no different as an app to what it is as a standard install other than integrating it in to external programs but I have sussed that so both faststone (image viewer) and photo supreme ( dam ) can call APHOTO and open it with the selected image opened. Serif are working on a better method than a batch file. 

 

My desktop

 

1.jpg

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2 minutes ago, Dangerous said:

I went to the start menu list, pinned the 3 programs to the start menu, pinned them to the taskbar then I dragged them off the start menu to the desktop and all 3 had icons as they should. That was a day after an easy install. Getting them on the start menu, taskbar and desktop to under 1 minute probably 30 seconds max. Old windows pc. I do mot clutter my desktop with icons, I keep them on the taskbar (11 but room for 32 or more or start menu (82 with room for another 50 or so) where they belong (in my opinion) only need recycle bin on desktop..

 

I can't understand why people are so against it as an app. I don't like windows apps but not because they are apps, just because they are crap. 

Affinity is no different as an app to what it is as a standard install other than integrating it in to external programs but I have sussed that so both faststone (image viewer) and photo supreme ( dam ) can call APHOTO and open it with the selected image opened. Serif are working on a better method than a batch file. 

So I should have known all of that and then lets forget about all the other issues this is bringing to customers and their workflow as explained here ad nauseum. You just decided to skip over all of that.

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3 minutes ago, Delphi said:

So I should have known all of that and then lets forget about all the other issues this is bringing to customers and their workflow as explained here ad nauseum. You just decided to skip over all of that.

What issues to their workflow?

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8 minutes ago, Dangerous said:

I went to the start menu list, pinned the 3 programs to the start menu, pinned them to the taskbar then I dragged them off the start menu to the desktop and all 3 had icons as they should. That was a day after an easy install. Getting them on the start menu, taskbar and desktop to under 1 minute probably 30 seconds max. Old windows pc. I do mot clutter my desktop with icons, I keep them on the taskbar (11 but room for 32 or more or start menu (82 with room for another 50 or so) where they belong (in my opinion) only need recycle bin on desktop..

I decided to do these steps and I got a shortcut on the desktop with the ico, but when I right click on the shortcut to bring-up the properties to see where the ico for it is located there is no way to do that! I can do that with the shortcut I created. So, seems the way I did is superior.

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6 minutes ago, Delphi said:

I decided to do these steps and I got a shortcut on the desktop with the ico, but when I right click on the shortcut to bring-up the properties to see where the ico for it is located there is no way to do that! I can do that with the shortcut I created. So, seems the way I did is superior.

Not superior, just different. Why care where the program is when all you need to do it run & use it

EDITED TO ADD

you didn't say how it being an app caused issues to their workflow.

 

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12 minutes ago, Dangerous said:

I can't understand why people are so against it as an app.

You don't understand because everyone is different. For example, I have different drives and different folders on my system. I have all of my general utilities under D:\Tools and my development tools under D:\DevTools. I have general purpose software in C:\GeneralApps. This helps me with backups and management of the stuff that I work with. It's easy for me to configure the various applications when I need them to integrate with each other. It's the way that I am comfortable working and fits in my workflow and processes. Affinity is the first serious application that insists on being a Windows App. Can I work around it? Sure, and I have, but that's not the point. You aren't seeing something as a problem for you and are extrapolating that onto everyone else. Sure, it's possible to work around these issues but people shouldn't need to.

For me, I really appreciate what Serif has done by providing a very good non-subscription alternative to Adobe. I also appreciate their extremely fair upgrade policy. I have no problem paying for an upgrade. I am going to get 1 license of V2 to support them and hold off on the other 3 until I see what happens with the installations.

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13 minutes ago, Dangerous said:

Not superior, just different. Why care where the program is when all you need to do it run & use it

EDITED TO ADD

you didn't say how it being an app caused issues to their workflow.

 

Why should I spoon feed this info when it is all over this thread or have to explain why I need this to be a regular application? I have no beef with you, but you need to understand people have long standing workflows that this breaks.

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23 minutes ago, Dangerous said:

I can't understand why people are so against it as an app. I don't like windows apps but not because they are apps, just because they are crap. 

Affinity is no different as an app to what it is as a standard install other than integrating it in to external programs but I have sussed that so both faststone (image viewer) and photo supreme ( dam ) can call APHOTO and open it with the selected image opened. Serif are working on a better method than a batch file. 

 

 

Read the thread. It doesn't install. I had to troubleshoot a firewall service for two hours to get it to install. Even after that I am having issues that render the app useless. I have requested a refund, but now I can't even uninstall.

My system is hardened and all MS spyware services are disabled. This is pretty common among users of Affinity products who intentionally left Adobe for exactly this reason.

In order to install, uninstall, or upgrade an app, I have to reboot in safe mode, disable/enable services, rename certain system directories, reboot again, perform the install/uninstall operation, then reboot into safe mode again to put everything back, then reboot yet again. I am an expert in performing these operations with 15 years IT experience.

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2 minutes ago, Matterdor said:

You don't understand because everyone is different. For example, I have different drives and different folders on my system. I have all of my general utilities under D:\Tools and my development tools under D:\DevTools. I have general purpose software in C:\GeneralApps. This helps me with backups and management of the stuff that I work with. It's easy for me to configure the various applications when I need them to integrate with each other. It's the way that I am comfortable working and fits in my workflow and processes. Affinity is the first serious application that insists on being a Windows App. Can I work around it? Sure, and I have, but that's not the point. You aren't seeing something as a problem for you and are extrapolating that onto everyone else. Sure, it's possible to work around these issues but people shouldn't need to.

For me, I really appreciate what Serif has done by providing a very good non-subscription alternative to Adobe. I also appreciate their extremely fair upgrade policy. I have no problem paying for an upgrade. I am going to get 1 license of V2 to support them and hold off on the other 3 until I see what happens with the installations.

I have several drives (6 plus 2 external) with different folders in a manner to suit me.
The thread is people not happy that it is an app but the app works the same as it would a standard program. People want the icons on the desktop, that takes seconds to do. I have integrated it with Faststone & Photo Supreme. It also works with Blender and probably many other till Serif get a better fix. It can be moved to a different drive if space is limited. 

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