hey, a free 'basic' Poser 8 is still a pretty cool way to get new people introduced to Poser.  it will still load all sortsof premade freestuff, wont it?

as for editing MATs, thats a large limitation for an advanced user but most beginning Poser users rely on premade MATs anyways -- its unlikely that they are going to dive into shadernodes right away.

be a bit more optimistic folks - its Christmas after all :)