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please note this:
[Texto en Espaņol al final]
Hi everyone,
The PixInsight LE freeware application was first published in 2004. The free LE (Limited Edition) application has represented the initial development stages of the PixInsight project, as well as the first public release of PixInsight.
After nearly five years since the last update (LE version 1.0.2.143), today we have made the decision to discontinue PixInsight LE. We know this may be a controversial decision, but we have at least three strong reasons to take it:
- PixInsight LE is a completely obsolete application. It does not provide a minimally accurate idea of PixInsight's current state of development.
- PixInsight LE is only available on Windows, which is contrary to what we want to achieve with PixInsight. Within the goals and general philosophy behind PixInsight, it is unfair to continue maintenance of a freeware product for a single platform.
- For a long time, PixInsight LE has been counterproductive to the aspirations of the PixInsight project. PixInsight LE is very often seen as a tool which is only valid to solve a very specific problem (gradient removal with the DynamicBackgroundExtraction tool, a.k.a. DBE), and nearly nothing more. Actually, PixInsight LE, even being obsolete, provides a reasonably complete, 32-bit post-processing solution, which is able to achieve better results than other commercial products. It always amazes us when we read descriptions of how PixInsight LE is used for DBE, then the image is downgraded to 16-bit, as a necessary step to open it with other application, with the purpose to apply levels, curves, etc. That is quite disappointing because PixInsight LE offers far better histogram and curves transformations, not to mention advanced color saturation adjustments, morphological transformations, wavelet transforms, noise reduction tools, pixel math, an efficient masking system, and an accurate color management system, among other tools and features. Unfortunately, we feel that today PixInsight LE has become an obstacle to understand what PixInsight actually is, what it can do, and how it evolves.
Based on these considerations, from now on the old PixInsight LE application will no longer be available for download from our servers.
As for a new limited edition of PixInsight, we certainly have some projects in mind, but still nothing decided, and absolutely no time line available. The next PixInsight LE will not be a free product, but it of course will provide an outstanding set of advanced image processing capabilities at a very reasonable cost, and it will be available at least on Linux/X11, Mac OS X, and Windows platforms.
Thank you for your interest and support.
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