DRDUL  RAW Developer is a must-have for me. I shoot with an Olympus E-P1 and a Panasonic LX3, and the RAW files from both of these cameras are corrected for barrel distortion when converted in Adobe Camera Raw, SilkyPix, Olympus Master and most other RAW converters. RAW Developer doesn't apply any corrections, which enables me to apply however much (or little) correction I want in Photoshop, and also enables me to recover additional bits of the image around the edges.

The workflow in RAW Developer is similar to Adobe Camera Raw, which makes it easy and fast for me to use. The image preview updates as corrections are applied, and the result is an image that is as good as or better than what I can get from ACR. Image settings are saved in files with a .rdsf extension, so they don't conflict with the .xml files created by ACR.

The only other RAW converter I could find that doesn't apply corrections to images during conversion is Raw Photo Processor. I have used RPP several times and even donated to unlock additional features, but I gave up after a while, as I found it just too difficult. The UI is awkward, the documentation doesn't explain things very well, the preview does not update automatically, and I never could get the highlight recovery feature to work properly. In comparison, RAW Developer is a pleasure to use.

My only (minor) complaint about RAW Developer is that the documentation is somewhat out of date (it appears to be for version 1.4). As a result, there is no explanation of a few settings, but in most cases I have been able to figure out what they do through trial and error (although I'm at a loss to guess what "TC Shadow" means).  
(Version 1.8.5)

BEIGE  I reviewed Aperture and Lightroom for Ars Technica and this is the only app that I've spent my hard-earned money on (the others were sent to me for review). While this app doesn't do all that Aperture or Lightroom does for library or metadata handling, it just does everything I ever asked a good RAW processor to:

-has a radius setting for sharpening

-great handling of high-noise images, letting you sharpen and denoise without getting unnatural blips of noise

-interactive curve adjustment

-extremely customizable settings

and the price is incredible for the quality. After using all major apps including Canon's Digital Photo Pro, Bibble, Capture One Pro and others, I'd say that this is the best option, at least for the Digital Rebel xti, which is what I have.   
(Version 1.7.2)

JAN13  I just test it and as “PURE” RAW processor this software in one simple word “ROCKS” !!!  
(Version 1.8.6)

RPPHOTO  I've used this for quite awhile now, and I'm still impressed! This is like the sleeping giant of raw processors. I own and use just about all of them.  
(Version 1.8.4)

FROMAGE-HEAD  A very good program. I particularly like how you can work with rvb curves and lab curves at the same time. I've tried lightroom and aperture but I wasn't as satisfied with their color correction/adjustement tools.

Export and batch tools are pretty useful too.

Few bugs though:

-redraw problems when zooming

-error message when I apply "previous image setting" to a picture and use undo

-error with some cropped pictures using batch process

Some suggestions:

-a true preview for crops (I mean without transparency)

-maybe a kind of fullscreen mode, without palettes  
(Version 1.7)

ABRAHAM IRAWAN  Best for digital infrared photograhy, i don't have to load photoshop to use channel swap, its all in there direct from RAW file

bravo!  
(Version 1.6.2)

YUNFAT  Quite simply the best RAW conversion application on the market, at least in the opinion of this photog.  
(Version 1.5)

RPPHOTO  I've managed to pull better looking and more detailed images than I have from any other Raw converter, and I've tried them all. I've done side-by-side comparisons with ACR, and I can't tell you how much better Raw Developer files look, the difference is astonishing. I'm very pleased with my purchase, and love the fact that I am supporting a small "developer" who makes such great apps.

And, no, I don't work with or know this developer; I just love this stuff!  
(Version 1.4.4)

BUMBLEB  As a raw image developer, RAW Developer kicks ass major big time! Really. It handles every kind of RAW file I throw at it better than Lightroom and even the manufacturers own softwares...

Especially the new processing pipeline for Sigma X3F files are much appreciated. Extreme quality, both color-, noise- and monochrome-wise.

I wish the more workflow related features were a bit more robust though. As is now, I can mark select images, but no way to work through a shoot fast, delete the bad shots, sort images into different folders. And I also wish I could rotate the thumbnails!

Well, I know RAW Developer is not a Lightroom or Aperture kind of app, but more a high quality developer. And I dig that. I just feel Lightroom is overkill, and that with a little expanded "workflow" functionality, my mind would enter a zen mind state, doing less, to accomplish more. Lightroom and Aperture has catalogs and databases. I don't want that, I just want a folder hierarchy. I feel tied up with database structures.

So what do I propose? A grid view of the opened folder, and a folder hierarchy like found in Capture One 3.x series. Now that Phase One has blown their nasty version 4.0, I guess that a lot of ex Capture One users would go with RAW Deveoper if a Capture One file workflow could be done in RAW Developer. To a lot of photographers, Capture One has been more than enough to allow great productivity. I just need my shots in, work, out, next. Then have some keywords / IPTC / metatags / Spotlight tags to find a certain image again, should I need it.

Brian the developer is a great developer, answers emails thoroughly, so maybe he will consider the above? Would be way cool. The world needs less-fuzz-solutions instead of all the crowded, bloated busy-stuff.  
(Version 1.7.2)

PIXELJUNKEY  Not bad for such a young product. Would be better if the interface were shored up a little bit. Get the progress bar off of the center of the viewing area and replace it with the spinning tick-mark meter, maybe at the top right corner of the toolbar. Need an easy way to reset all changes made to an image. Resizing the viewer panel should not resize the thumbnails, and it would be good if you could see two rows worth.  
(Version 1.4)