[skybolt]

You can do everything you want from within iPhoto. Set your preferences to use whatever external editor you prefer. Then when you edit a photo, the modified photo will be saved right back where it belongs. iPhoto keeps the original of every photo so that you can "revert to original" at any time.

For organization, create folders -- for instance "Vacations". Then create albums for each vacation "San Francisco", "Summer 2008", etc. and put them in the folder. You can create smart albums and, using keywords for your photos, the photos will automatically be put into the correct album. For instance, if you have a photo of Bob and Betty, you could keyword that photo with the keywords "Bob" and "Betty". Then, a smart album for each would automatically put the photo in the correct smart album.

As for lower resolution for emailing, etc., just use the email function in iPhoto -- you will be prompted for what size you want to send. For uploading to Facebook or the like, use the export function and you will similarly be asked what resolution you want to use.

There is no need to keep all those folders, etc. iPhoto is meant to do all of that for you, and it does it brilliantly! Give it a chance to do its work and keep you from doing all of the heavy lifting!