Nice job, Frances

Cycles seems to look more photographic, but it's a hard distinction to put into words. As you get closer to objects, Cycles seems to look more natural in terms of lighting, etc.

It is a bit frustrating that there are two different set-up methods depending on which renderer you want to use. I liked the old method of applying textures... it was very intuitive. With the node system, it's often NOT intuitive. Still, I am sure things will continue improving and all these concerns will be put to rest.

Very frustrating is the lack of Normal Map support. Using Normal maps, we can get very 3D looking textures without much overhead at all. With Displacement maps, we have to sub-divide the object(s) quite extensively and this increases render times significantly.

Peace and Merry Christmas

James