Any recommendations for Serif PhotoPlus X2 ?

[Curt]

Today's offer at Bits du Jour is Serif PhotoPlus X2 for $50 against the normal $80. It can however NOT be downloaded and tested before purchase, and I am totally not going to purchase it unless I know a lot more about it! So I was hoping some of you guys and dolls will tell what you know about & think of PhotoPlus X2, please.
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Maybe I should add that I have a license for the older PhotoPlus 11, but never cared to install that version on my Vista (if it even can?). But of course I expect X2 to be a lot better.

http://www.bitsdujour.com/software/photoplus/

Edited:
My original question was too easy to ask and too difficult to answer. I have watched the video about X2 (on http://www.serif.com/photoplus/) and am of course impressed with the features. My question is more if you think it is easy to use, and worth the money. Does it have a context menu in Explorer? Can I easily batch resize a folder of images? Stuff like that, etc.

Edit2:
Hmm... I finally found what Bits du Jour should have offered: a link to the manual! http://www.serif.com/community/pdfs/PhotoPlusx2.pdf ; I expect it will answer my questions. 

[Lutz_]

I do not remember details about photoplus - other than  that I did like the documentation very much; certainly great for beginners.  The accompanying book is very good.  I believe that Paintshop Pro and PhotoLine are in the end the more powerful image editors in the same price range.

[Curt]

...; certainly great for beginners.  ...

- I think you're right. The company seems to offer easy operations of many lite features, but I prefer a master of specialized features.

[Lutz_]

Hi Curt,

I believe PhotoPlus is not a highlight in image editing power, but very good regarding the UI and documentation. As mentioned above, I believe it is great for beginners.  However, I can recommend two other Serif programs without any reservations:  DrawPlus and PagePlus, both offer some outstanding features while still being very user friendly -definitely for both beginners and ambitious experienced users.

[Curt]

- thanks for the recommendations, Lutz_. At a total of £222 I would expect DrawPlus and PagePlus to be user-friendly, first class programs, £60 of that price being the manuals!!! Well, it is good that the company is making thorough manuals at all. And still, £222 is merely a fraction of the price for the "comparable" specialists programs from, say, Adobe CS4.

[Lutz_]

.... and if you register the old free versions of their programs (from freeserifsoftware.com ) you will very soon get email offers for very nice discounts on Serif software.  If you can stand this type of marketing. 

[Curt]

- ?? I have registered my payware versions long time ago, but have never received any mails from Serif. Hmm... I guess I've unchecked the option. Maybe I should sign up, so I can receive some offers! 

[cmpm]

You could try this Photo Pos Pro.
It's the full version, and still active, even though it was to end in March.

http://www.photopos.com/brothersoft.asp

It still works as of this moment.

[Curt]

- thanks, cmpm - it really was free. However, my anti-malware is blocking a part of Pos Pro, and I didn't even install the toolbar.

[cmpm]

I didn't have any problems.
What is it blocking?
Does it show it?

[Curt]

Packed/Molebox, I think was the name?

[cmpm]

I couldn't find what was supposed to be in my computer with this after googling Packed/Molebox.

But I did find some info googling 'Packed/Molebox photo pos pro'.
Interesting enough is DC is first on the list.
Though not suprised.
We cover most everything I think.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=com.google%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=WKr&num=30&q=Packed%2FMolebox+photo+pos+pro&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=

Some kept and some didn't trust it, looks like.
I kept it and virus and other scans reveal nothing about it.

[Curt]

- MoleBox seems not to be a file, but a sequence in how the exe file was packed which should be typically for malware. or something.

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[cmpm]

how the exe file was packed

Can you check with Outpost to verify or have them check it out themselves?
I guess they would have to download the file so send them the link, to reproduce your malware trigger.

[Curt]

I scanned the folder, and Outpost kept saying it was malware (or spyware?, I forgot). I told about it to both Photo Pos and Agnitum, but I seriously expect nothing to happen - they have both known about this problem for several years. In your situation I *think* I would keep the attitude that the file is harmless - thanks to the answers from your google link.