It may seem like this question has been asked again and again. Well, as time goes - there will be changes. Back when Lightroom (LR) was not around - I used iView and liked if very much for what it did and offered. I freaked out when Microsoft brought the company and switched to LR (despite the fact that its not much of a DAM tool).

So, its been a year or so of using LR and i still see its limitations, and would love to hear your experiences in using any other alternatives available at this time. Anybody use Microsoft Expression Media 2? Portfilio users still around? or just go to LR2 and be happy with it?

Interested to learn from your experiences. Thanks!

I used iView and, like you, left it behind with Microsoft. I find LR adequate and will stay there for now. After all, LR is still basically in it's infancy and Adobe appears to be pretty responsive to the community as it develops the app. I am sure we'll start to see improvements in it's DAM capabilities as the version numbers tick up.

I haven't found a damn DAM that really seems to work for me, universally. I've used a few different programs. Like you, I've been using Lightroom, but for certain projects only. I also own, and sometimes use Extensis Portfolio and also ACDSee Pro 2. Sadly, there is no universal way of tagging files or rating files so other programs can use it. In a way, for editing, I've yet to find a program as quick and easy as BreezeBrowser. I can see it all getting, way, way , WAY ahead of me and out of hand, partially because of my own reluctance to standardize on one particular program. Like you, I've seen the limitations of each and have a hard time reconciling what I'm willing to give up.

Another program to throw out there, that I've always heard good things about is Thumbs Plus. Part of my reluctance is the "orphan software" syndrome. Too worried about a company going under, being bought, or otherwise abandoning the software I finally decide to adopt.

I've tried cataloging 3000+ images from a book project with Extensis Portfolio. A failure. I finally used LR, which actually made the task fairly straight forward. At this point, no images are CMYK, which is LR's Achilles' Heel when it comes to acting as a DAM. ACDSee has done a pretty good job with the project as well, plus you don't have to import them into the program (what I hate most about LR).

Lightroom is great to use, and I hope for the fulfillment of its potential.

Maybe many people like Bridge, but I'd wish for Lightroom to take its place. Which would mean it could read layered files (not just the flattened file extension of layered files) and was much more integrated in Photoshop, where you don't really have to "export" images.

Sure, Bridge serves as a communicator between different Adobe applications, but why shouldn't Lightroom be able to handle this, too. It is a great photographer's tool, but this doesn't have to exclude graphic artists to use it.

For my purposes lightroom is fine.

If you're auditioning apps I would try idimager. (PC only, I think.) Hert is constantly improving that thing.