By John DeFore

Diehard Macintosh fans have just wrapped up their big event of the year, Macworld Expo, a celebration of all things related to the stylish, scrappy compu-competitor to Windows. Running Jan. 14-18 in San Francisco, the event is traditionally the launching pad for the year’s hottest gear — last year, it was the setting for the debut of a little gizmo called the iPhone.

But the conference isn’t just a showcase for Apple’s new toys; it gives “power users” a chance to kick the tires of the software that makes their computers useful. A year ago, for instance, the computing cognoscenti gave “Best of Show” honors to fresh versions of two familiar workhorses: Adobe’s Premiere and Photoshop programs, both retooled for the professional-grade Creative Suite 3. As is usually the case, the Suite wasn’t yet available for sale, but the hype proved justified: As graphic designers (Photoshop) and filmmakers (Premiere) got their hands on it in later months, they found the applications packed with so many improvements that, as Macworld Magazine said of Photoshop, “no serious digital photographer, video artist, or designer should be without it.”

This week Adobe once again took “Best of Show” honors, this time with Photoshop’s kid brother. While the full Photoshop (and Premiere) are geared toward pros and priced to match, the $89 Photoshop Elements 6 (hitting stores in March) squeezes Photoshop’s most widely useful tools into an interface that even a casual shutterbug will find intuitive. One neat-o feature lets you easily combine the best parts of multiple photographs, making one seamless, ideal image. (No more group shots where everyone’s smiling except Uncle Joe, who blinked!)

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