It's not just during boot and program launch that you'll see the benefit of FD (or an SSD for that matter). Any time you access your drive you'll see a performance benefit. If you are using iPhoto, edits to images and renderings will happen faster. Brushes will work faster. Saves are faster, moving files around are faster. In iMovie, your playback prior to saving the project into a finished format will be smoother.
When I went from a HDD to an SSD in my iMac, the improvements were VERY noticeable. Everything was faster, like I just described. When I went from an SSD to a home made FD, nothing slowed down, but I then had an array that works pretty much like a 2.2TB SSD (within reason of course). If you think you want the benefits of an SSD but with lots more storage capacity, FD is for you. If you don't even think you'll see the benefits of an SSD (I can't see how you say that with having one in your Windows machine however), then don't waste your money.
Regarding photography, your frequently used photos will most likely migrate to the SSD. Also, all of your thumbnails and probably your previews will also migrate to the FD, making iPhoto and Aperture faster, especially when scrolling through projects. I use Aperture daily and the differences between a HDD and SSD (and hence FD) are very noticeable.
When I went from a HDD to an SSD in my iMac, the improvements were VERY noticeable. Everything was faster, like I just described. When I went from an SSD to a home made FD, nothing slowed down, but I then had an array that works pretty much like a 2.2TB SSD (within reason of course). If you think you want the benefits of an SSD but with lots more storage capacity, FD is for you. If you don't even think you'll see the benefits of an SSD (I can't see how you say that with having one in your Windows machine however), then don't waste your money.
Regarding photography, your frequently used photos will most likely migrate to the SSD. Also, all of your thumbnails and probably your previews will also migrate to the FD, making iPhoto and Aperture faster, especially when scrolling through projects. I use Aperture daily and the differences between a HDD and SSD (and hence FD) are very noticeable.