I started with PE2 and moved up to PE3 when it came out. Many improvements as long as you overlook a disconcerting glitch - when cropping a photo the image can suddenly scroll away up and sometimes out of reach! PE2 and PE3 both have thumbnail browse screens that permit you to set up your own hard disk image storage scheme. I subsequently bought PE4, used it briefly, and decided that I didn't like the photo organizer side of the program. In PE4 they dropped the browse screen in favor of their photo organizer, and you are pretty much compelled to use it. Mine became corrupted soon after I started using the program and I couldn't use PE4 until I dealt with the corrupted organizer. I'm back to PE3 and very happy. There is more in this program than I will ever use. I don't know how much more I would get out of Photoshop for what I do. I spent many years doing primarily black and white photography and doing all my own darkroom work. My darkroom is presently used for storing wine and tax records - the equipment is gathering dust. I can do more in a few minutes with PE3 than it would take me hours to accomplish in the darkroom. If I were combining photography with heavy graphics needs as in advertising or publication setup I would then use photoshop.
