The new version looks neat. The new local edit controls look particularly useful.

But the one thing DxO really truly needs is configurable keyboard shortcuts. Capture One has its speed edit keys. Lightroom has LrSuperKeys. ON1 and Darktable have a similar system. DxO not only has no such system, no programming interface for third parties to implement them, and you can’t even change the default shortcuts.

My M1 16gb mac mini works very well for Lightroom and Capture One and DxO and Darktable.

It is perfectly fluid in all situations and I see no reason to upgrade it.

Frankly, try them out. They’re free.

Darktable is looks superficially more Lightroom-like than Rawtherapee. It has a searchable library, printing, etc.

In terms of the editing workflow, however, Darktable behaves a bit differently than the Lightroom template. There is generally equivalent functionality for each of Lightroom’s features (except AI masking and AI denoising). But the way to achieve the functionality is often quite different.

So read the manual, watch a YouTube or three, and you should be good to go. Darktable is tremendously good software, and every bit as capable as Lightroom in terms of professional results. Join discuss.pixls.us if you have questions.