After years of using Photo Mechanic, recently I've been using Narrative Select (I think someone on here had mentioned it and that is why I checked it out in the first place). I like both programs, and in many ways they are similar. Each of them does notify me when an update is available, so I've never found that to be a problem. The ease of quickly skimming through the images, especially when I've shot a lot in burst mode so that differences from one image frame to the next can be very subtle, is very helpful. I think the zooming tool in Narrative Select is better than in Photo Mechanic, but that may just be me and my own perceptions.
I can easily zoom in on details of an image, ensuring that, say, a Blue Heron's eyes are sharp or that the details marking a turtle and his shell are sharp. Once I've identified an image as one I will want to edit, it's a simple matter to create a new folder, which is then retained within the folder in which I'm already working. When I've finished reviewing the images I can simply pluck the "To Be Edited" folder out of the main one and stick it on the desktop for easy access.
Neither program is free nor even inexpensive, but IMHO both are worth it, and either would be a good purchase.
