Ok.. I've been playing with Photo Manager 2 Pro for a few days now... I have to say - it ain't all that bad! Their references to the speediest preview on the market is way off for large NEF (RAW) files.. but for Jpgs already in the catalog.. it isn't bad. The interface is still a bit cluncky unless you have a >19" monitor (too much on the screen for use with a 15" screen that I have at work).. and I don't like how double clicking an image brings you to an editor... I typically just want to be brought to a full page viewer but at least it loads relatively fast (again except for RAW).

They definetely added some nice RAW editing tools.. but missed the boat on functionality. Like, for some reason, you can apply the same RAW settings to multiple files from within the RAW editor.. only one at a time! That's really really a poor decision since if you are working say with a portrait session, I like to apply all my changes to a single photo and then apply the same settings to all the rest and then further tweak each one. Having to manually do this or create a preset is silly and I'm sure will be addressed in the next update. Finally, the RAW editor needs to be loaded rather than being just a part of the main UI ala Lightroom.... I would have liked to have seen this integrated better into the main screen rather than having a seperate editor load each time.

The other thing I still don't like as well is the IPTC editor and how they use categories. Lightroom has that well in hand with keywords in lieu of catgories - there also isn't an easy way to convert categories into keywords to store in IPTC..

So.. all in all.. a step in the right direction.. but it ain't Lightroom. If you only use JPG, then it is a decent product but you might as well just get Photo Manager 10 and save a few $$$.. if you do RAW and want an allinone package.. you might wait until the next update comes along to correct some of these misteps..

I will admit that it was faster than Lightroom is... If only Adobe would put out an update for LR that made it 50% faster... I think everyone would be hard pressed to find a better all-in-one DAM solution than LR.

anyone.. enjoy!