Just noticed something interesting as I was surfing for Phothshop books announced, but not yet available at amazon.com. (Search books using keyword "photoshop" -- then change the sort order to "by publication date" which will display them starting with the one whose publication date is farthest in the future.)
November 2003 is the specified "date of availability" of a couple titles that look interesting:
Photoshop X Bible -- Deke McClelland, and
Hidden Secrets of Photoshop X (
not [/u]"Photoshop Elements") by none other than RetouchPRO forum moderator, Richard Lynch.
Historically an "X" has been used as a placeholder in titles that is eventually be replaced by a number. Since Deke's Photoshop 7 Bible (two versions, in fact) have been out for quite some time, my bet is the "X" will be replaced by an "8" when
PS 8 is announced.
More fuel for the fire!
My .02 regarding whether to or not to upgrade: In a nutshell, ya can't lose.
One should upgrade to gain acccess to functionality or new ease of use features that improve throughput/productivity (read: efficiency and hopefully the bottom line) and/or the ability to deliver products or services that customers want (and are willing to pay for). Note: Don't construe this as only applying to those using Photoshop for business or commercial endeavors. If you use
PS for entertainment or hobby purposes, you get to define what's important to you. "You" can be your own customer.
There's no harm (and certainly a lot of good sense) in making a decision to stay with what you've got because (a) it works and (b) perhaps more importantly, works
for you.
In this case there's no right or wrong answer among the options. The choice that works for you is the
right answer.
The watch continues...It's great to have options, isn't it?
~Danny~