I'd skip. I went from LR3 to 5. I don't need maps, books, or Web junk. Mainly it was because of the healing tool, easier upright fixes (not perfect yet), and my export files were corrupting pretty regular. It's also the last version program I'll own outright (no Internet connection). Speed was also supposed to be better. I still hate scrolling of the the side bars and how the cropping works, but that's mainly me. I can't confirm how plugins work. I believe the popular ones are fine, but if you use plugins, you might not need the updates anyway.