There is little doubt that digital photography will take over from film, and it will happen sooner rather than later. As more people buy and start to use digital cameras there is an ever increasing demand for simple-to-use photo editing software that will allow them to get the best out of their photographs.
While many home users have heard of Adobe PhotoShop, it is both out of their price range and usually total overkill for what they need anyway. That's where something like Microsoft's Digital Image Suite comes in.
At around a fifth of the cost of PhotoShop it comes with the key editing functions that will allow the average user to improve lighting, get rid of flash red-eye, repair poor contrast and create photo compositions.
While I'm not usually a fan of thick and lengthy manuals, the 270-page volume that comes with the software is a gem. It explains the nitty gritty of using the software in simple terms and then devotes half of its pages to some good, commonsense instruction on how to use your digital camera, and get the best from scanning and printing.
The suite goes beyond just being a photo editor. It will catalogue your images for you and present them as thumbnails -- although be prepared to see your system slow to a crawl if you have a large collection of images and an older machine.
Microsoft has added 50 new filters bringing the total to more than 200 and there also is plug-in support for PhotoShop filters. Once you have taken your pictures, downloaded them to your PC and edited them, you will probably want to do something more with them.
No problem. Just select from one of the 3,000 projects ranging from creating your own business cards to designing your own photographic calendar or just burning them to CD.
And if you don't have the photograph you want for a particular project in your own collection, Microsoft has thrown in 5,000 images to help you out.
While the pro photographer is still going to opt for PhotoShop, the Digital Image Suite is ideal for the home user and enthusiastic amateur who want to do more than just take photographs.