I am a user of the Linux operating systems for my desktop computers, have been for years. I use Mac laptops as they were the closest to having a really good Linux install you could get for a long time, now Linux is fully functional on laptops but I still use Mac Laptops.

This means that I wanted cross platform software for photo editing, something that would work on both Linux (I mostly use Kubuntu and Opensuse, Debian on servers) and Mac OSX. For a long time I used GIMP, well frequently still do. It’s a good piece of software, with a lot of functionality. However I wanted something that was more tailored to photo editing, with clearer menus. Something rather like Lightroom really.

I eventually discovered Aftershot Pro 3 has a Linux version, and I figured it was worth a go. Especially as I saw it fairly heavily discounted in a sale. I will do a more in depth review at some point in the future but the first impressions are good. The import system and file management is what I would call ‘old school’. As in, you have do it yourself really. However it is lightning fast. The RAW file handling and editing is accelerated using OpenCL, with means it can take advantage of modern GPUs (inc Nvidia and AMD). The means that if you don’t mind the odd quirk around menus and file management, and they are easy to get used to, it is a fast and efficient editor. With a lot of features and functionality. So I would recommend you give it a try at least.