Hey Vince,
Bridge and ACR can make good MOS conversions. In my experience the Fors Calibration script inproves the color over the default settings. Bridge, ACR, and Photoshop make a great workflow. In Bridge you can add Keywords and a Copyright Notice, Batch Rename, adjust the images, and then batch process them.
The problem is that Bridge is not compatable with LC10 and iView Media Pro. Each time you edit one of your MOS files in LC10 the Raw file is re-saved, causing Bridge to forget all the process settings. This is because the file header is changed in the MOS and the XMP file that holds settings is not seen as belonging to the MOS anymore. The same thing can happen with iView. Once you have a catalog up and running there will be times you want to export annotations made in iView back to the original file. This action will also cause bridge to disregard the XMP file.
Where many RAW file formats are handle with Sidecar files even by the manufacturers software, the MOS is a little different. Leaf actually has you re-save your file each time you make editing changes in LC10. This means that Apps like iView see the embedded preview with your final editing decisions made rather than showing the original camera preview. If you work exclusively with iView and Leaf software this can be a great advantage.
I have not had a chance to test out the compatibility of Raw Developer yet. It does seem very nice to workwith though for strickly processing.
It is important to consider these archiving issues while you are choosing a RAW converter. The issue of long term cataloging and archiving is very important. Having a searchable archive rich with metadata may be more important, or as important, to you in the long run than your RAW processors speed.
p.s. I saw the word "archive" in your first post and ran with it. Hope you don't mind.
