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Yes, Aperture 3 is very fast compared to Aperture 2 and 1, and it has a lot of wonderful features, but its instability on my system is a show-stopper. SGML: Sounds Good, Maybe Later! I downloaded the trial version of Aperture 3 from Apple. It's the same as the standard version but requires a purchased serial number after 30 days. Unfortunately, only one hour was needed to determine that this software is not yet ready for prime time. It crashed 3 times during the first hour of use, and then I deleted it from my system (iMac 27" i5, 8 GB RAM). Instead of buying Aperture 3 now, I'd recommend waiting until at least the first few patches are released by Apple. I'm sure these issues will be addressed sooner or later. Google "Aperture 3" and "crash" and "unstable" online to see what other photographer are saying right now. If you're feeling lucky, here are a couple of tips that might save you from spending hours and hours of frustrating work: 1. Use IPTC tags for each shot so even if Aperture "goes away," the keywords, caption, photographer, copyright, etc. tags are preserved for each shot. I've been using Aperture on a daily basis since version 1 was released, and still have Aperture 2.1.4 on my system. With both Aperture 1 and 2, I have experienced occasional "library" (database/catalog) corruption. I don't know if Aperture 3 has the same issues but given its current instability, I'd suggest erring on the side of caution. Aperture has sometimes associated the wrong metadata (captions, keywords, etc.) with some of my shots, as well as the wrong thumbnails. The standard fixes include rebuilding the Aperture catalog by holding down the option and command keys while starting Aperture, and manually deleting the thumbnail files from library packages. Sometimes these methods have worked, sometimes not. When they haven't worked, I've lost many hours of time rebuilding the library and re-applying adjustments to thousands of shots. Fortunately all the metadata for each of my shots is in IPTC format, embedded in the image files rather than just in Aperture's library, so I haven't lost any critical image information as a result of these problems. At least a couple of times per year I've had to delete a corrupted Aperture library, which means losing all the image adjustments, plus waiting while all the thumbnails get rebuilt. 2. Import your images into Aperture by reference, leaving them in their original folders. Don't allow Aperture to move your shots into its "package." If Aperture crashes or corrupts its own library, you'll be happy that all you have to delete is the library, knowing your shots are safe and sound where you left them. Yes, you could probably extract them from an Aperture library package if necessary, but if the package is truly corrupted by Aperture, you'll have a much bigger job ahead of you. As a side benefit, if you use other software packages such as LightRoom or PhotoMechanic to manage or edit your shots, you can do that very easily if the shots are in their original folders. I'm sorry to write this negative review. I've been waiting for Aperture 3 for a long time, but I won't buy it until Apple fixes it. I wish you better luck than I had with it.