I would recommend Lightroom over Aperture for most photographers. I've used both, and they're both great programs, but I prefer Lightroom for several reasons.


1. Lightroom has more advanced image editing. Aperture is really lacking on some key image editing features that I use frequently.
2. Lightroom has more professional printing options. Aperture is reallylacking in this area. Of course, you could use another program for printing... but that's not what we're talking about here.
3. Lightroom has more (and better in my opinion) web tools. Flash galleries, etc. are all quite good in Lightroom.
4. I like the library system better in Lightroom.


It's basically better at everything right now. This is slightly unfair seeing as Aperture is older than Lightroom 2. There should be a new version of Aperture sometime next year.. along with a Lightroom 3. The one thing I did like better about Aperture is the speed and integration with Mac OS X. Aperture takes a more non-linear approach to your workflow, which makes it far faster in some ways. In Lightroom 2, it does take a little bit to go through the different modules (Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print, Web). This isn't a huge deal breaker for me though... once you get used to it, Lightroom's advantages overcome the small speed differences. Aperture does have integration with OS X though, and that's quite useful depending on what else you do on your Mac.


Anyways, those are my thoughts on Lightroom 2 vs. Aperture 2. Both are great programs, I just prefer Lightroom for the type of work I do.


Thanks,
Derrick