Overdue Review: Pixelmator

For those on Mac (or Hacs, as I am) looking for a Photoshop alternative, you should check out Pixelmator. While it's not quite on par with full Photoshop, it loads fast, has a very familiar (and gorgeous) interface, and is quite powerful with it's use of Core Graphics and Quartz Composer.  It works so well, in fact, that in the past 2 weeks of being back on Leopard, I have yet to install Photoshop.  Pixelmator has easily covered what I've needed.  That's not to say that I won't need to install Photoshop, but I haven't even felt the twinge yet to do so.  It runs smooth, fast, and the menu structure is very familiar for any Photoshop user.  The latest release (1.2.2, as of this writing) added a cool new gradient feature that allows you to see in real-time the gradient you are creating.  It is fully compatible with PSD files created in Photoshop (at least, all the ones I've opened), and it's use of Quartz Composer for certain filters actually extends some of it's functionality beyond that of Photoshop's.  I highly recommend that any digital artist give Pixelmator a go; they have a 30 day trial available.  Pixelmator costs $59 (well below even Photoshop Elements).  www.Pixelmator.com