PS7b performance
The version I've been using is also beta 43. It's interesting to hear that you got hold of beta 51; at least development has progressed somewhat then, since the version I'm using. (Does anyone know which version was demonstrated at MWSF?)
I wonder if the slowness of the interface was the reason they just ran an action in the demo?
crassus, I'm a little offended that you refer to scrolling around in the work document and layers as not 'REAL work'. This is what I do much of the time when working with PS; and I do really use it a lot. Sure, it's great that filters are faster, but that to me is not 'REAL work', it's just a math operation. But perhaps our uses differ; I use PS primarily as a design tool, working on interfaces for interactive applications such as Flash, Shockwave or Java. While my documents are often less than 800x600, I regularly use upwards of 300 layers - and while, frankly, that will slow any version of Photoshop down, it's excruciating under OS X.
You're right - it's Quartz that is slowing everything down, not 'Aqua' as I erroneously stated. I'm sorry, but I'll just have to completely disagree with you that Quartz is 'pretty damn fast'. I suppose then, that Flash is also 'pretty damn fast'? It may be fast at what it is trying to do (drawing everything as vector graphics), but sometimes what it is trying to do just doesn't make sense. Consider this: you want to code a Galaga or Space Invaders-type game. Do you use Flash, or Shockwave? In this case, using Flash would be stupid, because you'd get around 1/10 the performance of Shockwave, or less, because Flash handles all graphics, even bitmaps, as vectors. It just simply doesn't make sense for the task at hand. Same with Quartz; you want to scroll smoothly through list view in your file window - no can do, because Quartz is taking years and years drawing supersmooth vector graphics in software for every update (and then, on top of that, you're being further slowed down by OS X's filesystem which is cranking away on your HD at your request - AFTER you clicked the scroll button. Why the hell doesn't it load the file list into RAM instead???). What I'm trying to say is; it's not the right tool for the task. You don't want it. You don't need it. You want the SPEED, in stead.
If OS X is the OS of the future, then that's because it will take a future Mac to run it well.
BTW, I'm looking forward to seeing your test results.
