Quote - well, I really ahven't gotten any real warm and fuzzies with the release of Poser 7, nor Poser Pro.
Remember when Poser 4 was released, or 5, even 6? There was so much chatter here about these versions...for a long time.
Now 7 came out, pretty quiet.
Pro just came out and there is hardly a peep about this baby.

I'm still using 6, and have been contemplating the question of upgrading to 7 or not. And now there's Pro...maybe I would upgrade to Pro Basic ....

But is there really any reason to? Some earthshattering thing that I have to have in either version? Or just something cool?

No one seems all too excited about either version, especially Pro.

Well, I don't own a copy of pro but I've worked with one on the job - had a chance to peruse it, I can tell you I won't be upgrading to it anytime soon.  Don't get me wrong, it isn't "horrible" by any means, it looks and feels a lot like 7, in fact it's nearly identical except for a couple of extra options here and there.

Ok, the upside to pro - it does have a new 64 bit render engine with network rendering capabilities.  Sounds great, but a couple of caveats - the network rendering looks fantastic on paper but so far in practice I'd have to say it's relatively unstable in the testing I've done with it.  Sometimes I get a render, sometimes I get an error and the process blows up and I get nothing.  Seems to be almost a coin flip as to which you'll get with network rendering.

The 64 bit firefly renderer - ok, honestly, this sounds cooler than what it actually is - it doesn't seem to render much faster than the 32 bit version.. my testing indicates no real appreciable speed difference on an AMD 64 3400+ with 2 Gig's of ram.     The 64 bit is just slightly faster, to the tune of on average 5 -10 seconds on a 5-8 minute render.

Also note while the render engine is 64 bit, the poser application itself is still 32 bit.

So all in all I thought the $200 upgrade price was pretty outrageous considering it is only a very minor upgrade from the 7 I already have, and the fact that I only paid about $150 for the full version of 7 I currently own.. no upgrade price break for me, this was the full version.

Your situation might vary - considering that your already considering upgrading anyway.  Personally I'll stick with version 7 for now - it's stable on my system as long as I keep the drive defragged and does what I need it to do.

Be a long time before I look at Smith Micro for an upgrade after this debacle - $500 for the full version is outrageous consider how far behind hte curve Poser "PRO" is compared to every other 3d app in that price range, and $200 for an upgrade is a total joke considering how minor that upgrade really turns out to be if you already own version 7, especially when like me you paid less than $200 for the full, non-upgrade version of 7 to begin with. 

So nope, Smith Micro hasn't really impressed me overmuch - they obviously lack a serious understanding of the market, they have massively overpriced Poser Pro to the point where I fear they are going to kill the app.  Not many true pros use poser, and simply adding in a couple of minor upgrades and almost quadrupling the asking price is not going to change that or make in roads into any market.  That's just, well, forgive my french but really damn stupid.

Every other 3d app you can get in the $500 price range stomps Poser into the dirt in almost every category.  Not sure what they are smoking over there at Smith Micro, but whatever it is I fear it's going to leave them with a serious hang over and soon.  Just hope they don't manage to completely kill Poser in the meantime with there absolutely moronic marketing strategy.

Ok, rant over.. Poser Pro?  Not worth the price IMHO, no significant advantages over version 7, and certainly not $200 worth of upgrades from Version 7. 

-Never fear, RenderDog is near!  Oh wait, is that a chew toy?  Yup. ok, nevermind.. go back to fearing...