I persuaded my mother to buy a Nikon D80 for my father last Christmas as he has been into photography for as long as I can remember. When I go and visit them, I've been able to use it a few times and LOVE it. I just wish I could afford one myself!
With the release of Aperture 2 and a free trial offer by Apple, I decided to use it on some of my photos and some of those taken by my parents. I also tried Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. While the latter has an excellent GUI, I decided I preferred Aperture and therefore purchased a copy (thankfully at a corporate discount rate).
If you are interested in photography and have a camera capable of shooting RAW, I recommend trying Aperture. Even if you don't have a RAW-capable camera, Aperture is still worth a visit (Apple are offering a 30 day free trial of it via
Apple - Aperture 2 - Download Aperture 2 and Get a Trial Serial Number).