PSP X Comments

Be sure to download the trial version before writing any checks or coughing up dough on upgrades to PSP X. There is just not much to recommend it above its own earlier incarnations of PSP 8 and 9.

Corel's Paint Shop Pro X landed with a wee bit of new toenail polish on a couple of toes, and darned little else. Unfortunately even its new toenail polish is already chipping rather badly. Paint Shop Pro X also sports additional (though not enough) bug fixes you will have to pay for, to enjoy. Meanwhile the touted Color Management and 16 bit support fiascos are fast becoming legends of folly and farce. Brace yourself for getting a short stick on program stability and sensibility, along with a nice big helping of interface unfriendliness, as well.

It's not all bad. X's new browser is a pure joy for anyone of the masochistic persuasion. Being rather delightfully served up smartly drenched in marketeers' empty calorie baloney, customerdom manipulations, lackluster support, and no small share of MIA (missing in action) documentation. PSP X also generously provides plenty of additional new gotchas and userdom problems you may not relish either.

Do your own homework first. Download it for a very thorough test driving before ever reaching for the wallet, or forever hold your peace.

For potential new customers who don't have earlier versions 8 or 9, it is a powerful program with many great features. Unfortunately they are now somewhat buried and hidden. Probably being staged to phase out later. Dumbing down and underestimating the public is a heavily traveled path in marketeering whoredom #101. However, those advanced features are still there for the moment, even in X. So, go download, test drive the beejesus out of it, and simply decide for yourself.

 -Porter