For pros who just want to get work done, Aperture 3’s improved interface, flawless curve adjustment, multiple maskable edits, and 64-bit update are more than enough reason to upgrade. Add the metadata improvements and the high-ISO RAW conversion, and you have an essential upgrade. If Apple can rein in the glitches, give pros a toggle for the gooey effects, and polish the masking tools, then the rest is just gravy.
I like Aperture 3 a lot. The preset filters are nice, and the addition of curves and some other tools are more than welcome. I’ve got Faces and Places turned off.
But it is buggy. It’s brought my 2.93Ghz iMac (with a beefy discrete video card) to its knees more than a couple of times.