Photoshop CS6 vs CS5

Are there changes that make a big difference? 

Well, yes there are huge differences if you do Animation, 3D and Typograpaphy.  Time Line makes animation actually run smoothly while working.  Likewise for 3D there's a much better interface.  Vector tools are also improved.

For us Photographers... what do we get?  The improvements are not quite as "rock my world" as for animators, but there's quite a bit.

Changes to Filters are an improvement.  Artistic is replaced with Oil Paint which offers significantly more sophisticated effects and while they still look like filters, they look like much better filters. 

The Liquify tool that we use more often than our clients like to admit (for slimming a waistline or jawline) works smoothly.  HUGE improvement in this tool.  It doesn't hang up and it feels more intuitive.

Lens Corrections are simplified.

Colour Lookup offers some neat fast tricks that were previously only available to us as plug ins.

Mini-bridge works properly.

Properties Panel offers some streamlining of work flow.  Some cool stuff there that's easy to get to.

Content Aware Move Tool is new and interesting.  While there is no "one click" solution here, the tool has the potential to speed up the process of removing unwanted objects and improving composition.  Certainly something to add to the arsenal of methods we use to manipulate our photos.

While I'm not planning on upgrading in the immediate future, I see a couple of things in here that I like a lot...