Mostly having to do with graphics and painting. The core program allow creation of great graphics with such things as 3D cutouts, custom materials, picture tubes, etc. It also comes with Corel's Painter Essentials, a dedicated 3D titler, KPT (Kai's Power Tools), and some other good plug-ins.
On the photo side, I find the scratch, blemish, and object removers easier to use and customize than PS. When working with portraits, the skin smoother, teeth whitener, and a few other tools work surprisingly well. All of these tools are highly customizable.
I started with the 30 day trial and decided it was definitely worth the money.
(it also handle my camera RAW files, which my PS CS does not without first converting each photo to a dng file.)
It is easy to hype a program, so the real test is to use the trial version a lot and make up your own mind.
I sometime feel that asking PS users to try something else is like asking an iPhone junky to try Android.
I hear ya there! But, ignoring price PS will do all those things if you get the right package. And, of course you know those things you mentioned are customizable in PS, too. To each his own, use what works for ya.
