I've finally had the time and patience to take out my camera and confirm that 10.4.4 does indeed provide RAW support for its CR2 images. A few of today's photos have already found their way online, and I expect more to come over the next few weeks.
In the meantime, Mail.app and Safari have taken to packing up rather less than before, but they now seem to do it in very close succession. Hmmm...
It's been quite a while since I went out with a camera strapped around my neck, but the slight ache pales in comparison to the enjoyment - not to mention that it gets my mind off work.
On the photo management front, I'm thinking of grabbing Lightroom to fiddle with it a bit. I've been watching a very interesting video that walks through its UI (and requires Flash Player 8), and the interaction seems a whole lot more polished than iPhoto - plus the beta is free, and it seems to have a lot of Photoshop-like color tuning tools...