Is Poser 8 worth it? That depends what you're looking for. For me the library and new UI aren't worth any money at all, they're just annoying. I use both Poser Pro and Poser 8 on a regular basis and when going from P8 back to Poser Pro it's a relieve. No library and UI annoyances at all.

Rendering is a different matter, that's really worth it, P8 renders fast..... almost as fast as Poser 5 does. Every version after Poser 5 was rendering slower and slower, P8 almost set the record straight again. I've been testing a product lately in P5 for compatibility and noticed that with the same settings, P5 is still slightly faster then P8 when it comes to rendering. But compared to P6, P7 & Poser Pro, P8 renders really much faster.

IDL is worth it, if you use it. I don't, can't stand the increased rendering time, even with SR2 it's still not up to speed for serious work. Besides IDL the light hasn't really changed. I've been rendering the same scenes in P8 and Poser Pro (scenes set up in P8), but there's no difference. Poser Pro, due to the ability of having Gamma Correction and other options still renders nicer. But P8 is pretty good as well when tone mapping is used, but not as good as Poser Pro is.

The rest of new features, like rigging and the new content, I don't really care for, not using P8 content at all.

If it's worth it or not really depends on what you're going to use.

Quote -  I don't recommend you turn off UAC, I know it's a pain, but it's  the only way for windows to have an extra layer of security, turn it off and you'll go back to XP's security level, every malware would be able to run automatically without you knowing. 

It was anoying at first but then I got used to it, and never had a problem running programs with it.

Artwork and 3DToons items, create the perfect place for you toon and other figures!

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?vendor=23722

Due to the childish TOS changes, I'm not allowed to link to my other products outside of Rendo anymore :(

Food for thought.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYZw0dfLmLk