MacWorld joins the gang of upbeat reviews of Photoshop CS2, calling the program a "tour de force" and giving it a 4 1/2 Mac mouse rating. Author Jim Heid gives thumbs up to:

• The new Lens Correction filter, which corrects barrel distortion and pincushion distortion caused by camera lenses.

• The Smart Sharpen filter, which allows you to sharpen highlights and shadows separately.

• Vanishing Point, a flashy new feature that lets you paint and retouch in perspective.

• Adobe Bridge, the image viewing and organizing program for the entire Creative Suite, which replaces the Photoshop-only File Browser introduced in Photoshop 7.

• And a feature you don't hear much about - output to video monitor via Firewire, which lets video producers preview images without having to save and view in a video editing program.

Of course, Photoshop is always a work in progress. So there's room for reviewers to suggest improvements. One thing Jim Heid would like to see is the ability to apply filters non-destructively, "similar to adjustment layers."  I'm all for that idea, but we're unlikely to see filters in the form of adjustment layers; the technology just doesn't work that way. But as Heid suggests, the new Smart Object technology may be a step in that direction.

MacWorld's conclusion: "This is the most significant Photoshop upgrade in quite a while, and if you're serious about digital imaging, you need it."