@austinvinar, currently my photography work centers on stock/blog and product photography. At this point I’m not shooting portraits regularly or shooting weddings, so having the newest version of Lr isn’t a high priority for me. 🙂
You mentioned GIMP in your post earlier! I’m curious to know if it layers pictures (multiple shots of the same set with varied exposures – is that what you meant?) and if it allows you to add words on top of pictures?