Microsoft Adds RAW Support to Windows Vista & Windows 7 – Finally!

Microsoft has announced that Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 now supports RAW format images using the new Microsoft Camera Codec Pack for Windows 7 and Vista.  You can download the new codec, which supports more than 120 DSLR cameras in Photo Gallery, as well as in Windows Explorer.

Photo Gallery will also support editing copies of your raw images.  Whenever you want to alter a raw image, Photo Gallery makes a copy of the raw original and converts it to either JPEG or the far superior JPEG-XR (or HD Photo) format. With JPEG-XR, all of the quality of the raw original is there so you can fine-tune different editing effects.

With the new codec pack, Windows will now support viewing and editing a wide range of photo file formats including RAW, JPEG, PNG, TIFF and more. This new update unlocks the power of every photo on your computer so that your PC is capable of organizing, viewing and editing your digital memories, whether they were shot with a camera phone, point-and-shoot camera, or a higher end DSLR. cameratown.com