Adobe Lightroom vs. Photoshop CS3 Camera RAW

[eyeon]

I do a lot of photo editing/retouching, as well as graphic design and layout. I currently have both Photoshop CS3 Beta and Lightroom Beta, and notice that the camera RAW editing features are quite similar. I really like Lightroom's interface and editing workflow, and feel like it may be just a bit more versatile than Photoshop CS3's RAW editing options.

Furthermore, when Adobe Creative Suite 3 comes out, I will buy it for sure. So I'll have a full version of the Photoshop RAW tool.

I have a couple of questions; first, what do you think the chances are that Adobe will release Lightroom as part of the Creative Suite 3 package? And secondly, do you think it would be worth the extra $199 to purchase Lightroom in addition to CS3, or in your experience, is the Photoshop CS3 RAW tool basically the same thing with a different interface?

I'm just trying to decide whether or not it's justifiable to spend the extra money. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ChrisA]

I think under the surface all Adobe RAW processors may be alike. What differs is the user interface. LR is geared to processing large numbers of images and gives the user an ordered workflow and the ability to batch processing. PS is more for working on one image at a time.
I think I'd decidebased on which interface you like rather then technical stuff.

For me I prefer Aperture but I need to wait on a computer upgrade before I can use it.