There appear to be people whose PC system or editing habits give rise to more problems than other users, and of course there are people who rant out of proportion to the problem, just to vent and get relief from their frustration. Tight deadlines don't help matters, of course. I thankfully have few such moments.
I first started editing with Pinnacle Studio 1.0. It wouldn't work at all, so the distributor sent me a free update disc to 1.1. I left Studio at version 9. (I think that there were no versions 2 - 6). Studio was the video editor everybody loved to hate. I did have problems from time to time but could not agree with its reputation.
I then switched to Premiere Elements 2 and stayed with it to version 7 (There were no versions 5 or 6). As more features were added, the program became more unstable.
At some point, I bought Premiere Pro (unnumbered, later referred to as version 1). It was more difficult to use than Elements, and I didn't use it much.
Vegas 7 (sans DVD Arch) came bundled with my HDV camera, and I liked what I saw. Upgrade to version 8 gave me DVD Arch as well. I still mainly use 9c, although I have 10 - 13, because 9c smart renders AVCHD (sort of), as I like to preserve quality as much as possible (and save render time).
This is now likely to change for various reasons, so I will likely switched to a later version of Vegas. The main reason is that I now have a camera that records in progressive AVCHD, which 9c won't smart render.
I bought Adobe Production Premium CS 5.5 when the cross-grade war was on, primarily to get After Effects and PhotoShop. (I use the latter extensively to edit my raw photos.) I upgraded to CS6, but have no intention of going the Creative Cloud route. I have played with Premiere Pro CS6 a bit, but I find it alien now that I am used to Vegas. Encore insists on re-rendering my AVCHD files when making a Blu-ray, so I don't use it.
I tried both CyberLink PowerDirector and Magix Video Pro about two years ago because they were supposed to smart render AVCHD. PowerDirector has a bug whereby there is a predictable (related to GOP) frame jump near the end after smart trimming. It is still unfixed. Video Pro would sometimes give a green cast to a frame after smart trimming, and while consistent for a clip, I can't say when it will occur. Magix licenses the coder from Main Concept and referred the problem to them. I haven't checked to see if the bug is still there.
I also use Vegas for the occasional multi-track to stereo audio project, rather than say Audition or Reaper, because it seems more intuitive.
I normally use DVD Architect for authoring, but because of the Blu-ray Disc chapter skip bug with some players, including mine, I also use TMPEGEnc Authoring Works. Encore re-renders my AVCHD, so I don't use it, but I like it apart from that.
So for some years, Vegas has been my video editor of choice, but I will readily change to something else if it suits me better. For now I will continue to use it (probably version 13 or what follows). I have my list of features I would like to see implemented, as do many others, but we live in hope for a more perfect world (and video editor).
Fascinating posts from all you Vegas newbies. I've been with it since version 1.0, when It was an audio-only multitrack environment.
At the other end of the spectrum... I'm now still at version 10. As of version 11, it requires a 64-bit system, and mine is Win7, 32-bit.
I will probably have to go 64bit one of these days, but I have so.many software packages that it'll cost me a fortune to go to the latest versions of all of them if I go to a whole new environment. Not to mention at least several weeks of time (re-)installing the new version of everything.
I would think that most of your 32 bit programs would still work in a 64 bit environment. Those that are tied to hardware may have a problem if drivers are not available.
I've been with Vegas Pro as a fairly heavy-duty amateur since Version 6 and have upgraded only on the even numbers to 8, 10 and now 12 and have to say that I love the programme. I also seem to have been lucky in that I've had only a handful of crashes over the years with these usually involving no more than saving the restored programme to a different reference --- but I do hope I'm not tempting fate in saying this!
I came to NLE after many years working with cine film only and the transition was both easy and difficult at the same time. In some ways it was as though I had to learn a new language and also acquire new knowledge about things such as colour correction, levels and the use of layers (tracks) and sound but, as against this, much of the programme itself is very intuitive, especially when you get into the swing of things..
you can spend more time learning how to use it and also workarounds for any problems ;-)
was serious hardware based till 4. used 4 / 5 / 6 mainly as offline and for simple tasks. 7 saw the last of my hardware go (edit station 7 - betasp and dvcam vtrs).
have complained here about assorted problems, most notably gpu, but am still using vegas, even though i did go to ppro and edius during 11's reign.
not too sure how much longer i'll actually be using it professionally, at 65 i think i should tell my clients enough is enough and just do my own stuff, of which i have more than enough ;-)
I started with Vegas 5 and currently still on 7e. While it doesn't have all the new bells and whistles and is getting long in the tooth, it still works fine.
For what I use it for it works fine. It may balk at some of the new file formats but no loss really. Still happy here.
Been a long time user and abuser.of,vegas video,,,, and other things...not sure it even had a release number!...I have complaints but its the holiday season!!!
edit... bought my first copy off ebay...turned out to be a nicely designed pirated copy!
Was bought at an estate sale.....right...ebay never gave me my money back after countless attempts...they didn't care...live and learn!