ACDSee 8.0 upgrade or not?

[DotCom]

I've found out that ACDSee 8 is out. I am currently running 6.0. Should I fork up some cash for the new version or not. ACDSee user opinions only, please.

[EzyStvy]

What’s New in ACDSee 8 Photo Manager
http://www.acdsystems.com/products/acdsee/whatsnew

[Statica]

I've been using ACDSee from version 1.0 (or lower) and I've always found it an extremely agile image viewer. Over the years there is more and more bloatware creeping into the products as they try to be a be-all and end-all for all things images. I'm currently using Acdsee 7.0; and for what I want to do with it, I will no longer be using any version higher than 7.0!
My basic need is for a quick image viewer - and once in a blue moon an odd resize or a batch rename. 7.0 has been monstrously buggy at times. Their plugin philosophy has sometimes left me with crashes, especially if the software is installed in anyplace but the default location. The result also is that launching ACDsee-handled images from other programs results in frequent errors and crashes. Sure I can correct it, but shouldn't it work right the first time? It's also no longer light weight. There are much better programs out there for me that allow me to view an image on the fly. Especially when the image size has grown; ACDsee is exponentially more sluggish.
Exif handling has become the pits in 7.0; 6.0 was great especially when dealing with batch renames with exif info (I am fond of renaming my pix based on camera time) .. the nested exif info and frequent misplaced info made it a PITA. Again I found the exact exif tag I wanted, but why has it become more cumbersome in the new version?
The file viewer has lost its charm now that XP natively handles thumbnails quite seamlessly. And for a product that now wants to be a multimedia player, it's the SLOWEST video renderer out there. For example, if I have a folder with images and videos; and I am on the viewer .. and delete an image - God forbid that the next file in queue is a video file .. ACDSee seems hung for an eternity.
Above all, I dont care for ACDsee as an image editor; as an editor it's just too feature-less. I'd rather spend the money on a better product.
Finally, I hate another program violating the platform rules or trying to take over resources. Their device detector is a PITA as well; I already have one entity that can handle bugging me with questions about the memory card I just inserted .. do I really want another one that tells me that I just inserted a memory card?

My suggestion .. look at the features of the new ACDSee .. you will find better programs or interfaces already on your computer that handle it. However, if you have no other program, I guess $49 is not a bad deal to spend on an all-in-one. For example, I find the thumbnail viewer on XP quite adequate; beats out ACDSee in speed, sorting and "filterability" and most file operations (batch rename is lousy, of course). I have nero .. and it does slideshows on DVD or VCD quite nicely.

This is an example of software design without usability testing or a fundamental lack of understanding of what made them popular in the first place and trying to bridge multiple categories..

Let us know your experiences if you go with it.

[DotCom]

Well, 8.0 is supposed to be the "bug-fixed" 7.0. But there are a lot of parallels with Dreamweaver - if I could get this feature from this version and that feature from that version... I am still waiting for the input. ACDSee 8.0 owners are welcome to share.

[Statica]

Originally Posted by DotCom Well, 8.0 is supposed to be the "bug-fixed" 7.0.

That settles 8.0 for me then .. I paid money for 7.0 and if the subsequent bug fixes (build 102) havent fixed it then I'm not paying to get a major version upgrade. I've tolerated the bugs till build 61 what I currently have; and didnt install b102.

Good luck with your assessment.