It now does everything you didn't know you needed to do, and makes some things easier. It's the industry standard I hear...it better deliver.

Expensive.

It's hard to believe there has yet to be a review posted. I'll put this out there right off the bat...I'm one of those photoshop users that probably doesn't need all the bells and whistles that CS5 offers (or CS4 for that matter), but I like to have them just in case, and elements just doesn't quite cut it for me. I don't plan on doing 3D or video, so those area's won't be covered in here.
Compared to CS4, the layout is very similar. There are some minor aesthetic tweeks and the addition of CS Live (which I have yet to touch), but if you know your way around the previous version, you'll do fine here.
I think the most touted addition to CS5 is the content aware fill function, which can be used both by selecting and filling, as you would to fill with a pattern or color, or with the healing brush. Provided you're not expecting it to fill in anything very complicated, this is certainly a cool feature. I have yet to really figure out any pattern for where it gets its samples, but I have found it to usefull primarily when the surrounding area is fairly consistent. Any objects outside the selected area might end up getting tiled where you're trying to clean up. The quick verdict is that it's good for quick jobs, and it's results are dependent on what surrounds it.
Another feature that is new is the refined edge tool. I've used this sparingly so far. From my trials, it does a nice job of smoothing out any jagged selections I may have made, and allows the finer details to come out that would be an otherwise major pita to select.
Another addition that I'm happy to see is the MAJOR improvement in photoshops HDR capabiliites. Most know that CS4's hdr results were a joke, sending most to use Photomatix if necessary. Again, I've played with this for only a limited amount of time, but the results I've gotten are superior to what I've gotten with CS4. Being able to load, tone map, and continue editing all from one program is certainly a perk. I have yet to try to replicate any "grungy" images, but I was impressed with the mapping of a couple images for a "normalish" look. CS5 offers fewer controls then Photomatix. We'll see if that's good or bad.
I've only dabbled with the paint feature...only enough to know I still need to learn how to use it.

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Similar Products Used:

Photoshop CS4
Paint.net