I have been looking for something relatively simple that can both show and search for my digital images.
Adobe had the best in terms of simplicity and intuitive interface when they launched Album, but they seem either to have forgotten it or decided not to update for fear of upsetting many other vendors - Adobe do not support serious picture makers and restrict themselves to the mass market (silly, I think!), so serious amateurs like me are left in the cold. Forgive me if in v4 of Elements they have corrected this - I tried v3 to see if they had done so and would have even bought it just to get hold of a decent database programme!
I have looked at different offerings, but none seem to offer simplicity, let alone affordability. Firstly, there is iView Media Pro3, looks good, but searching is not easy and it costs about £130UK, $199. Portfolio from Extensis cannot even dispaly 16bit pictures saved in Photoshop and costs $199 +Tax! I know, there is Phototools IMatch, but the search is quite convulated and unless you have a degree in writing computer speak you are lost (sorry, but I am interested in pictures, not geek language).
This is, I know, a huge subject and there will be many vociferous exponents of one programme over another, - I do not want to encourage a free for all argument, but would rather a sensible amount of free thinking about what should be achievable and then feed that back to the 'authorites' that be!!!
Advice and comments are really needed for what is, perhaps, the most forgotten corner of our digital image world - how do we keep track of what we have taken!
Neil