The baseline info:
I've been using Elements 4 on a G5 iMac, the last generation before the Intell upgrade, relatively fast but not nearly as fast.
I do basic non-pro processing: cropping, sharpening, contrast and color work, noise reduction, and some occasional work with RAW files (maybe more in the future, who knows). My file management of my 40-80 shot usual shoots and 400-500 shot vacation shoots is lousy. I also find Elements cumbersome to use in some ways.

So my questions are: apart from the steep learning curve, will Aperture provide a single program alternative to Elements for me? Will it be too slow until I upgrade to the next generation iMac later this year?

I have downloaded the demo and will play with it over the next couple of weeks, but would still appreciate your thoughts and advice.

Thanks.

Mark

I also have a iMac g5, (last of the power PC), with 2Gb of RAM, and aperture works just fine for me, the import and export are slow if you take a lot of "heavy" pictures, (I use a eos 1ds mkII), and shoot raw most of the time, I just go get myself a cup of coffee in the time been!
But for "workflow", like cropping, levels, rating, etc works fine for me, once you get it down is really a breeze, I just, import from the camera, edit, export the version at the resolution I need and the "masters" to a separate hard drive, and then delete the proyect, I don't use the "vaults", so I normally end up with version and the "masters" on separate drives, aditional work on a photo I just export it to photoshop. done!