Originally Posted by raymeedc 
Yes, I meant Rawshooter Essentials, & have edited my original post to reflect this. My operating system is Windows XP. What is restrictive about being stuck in 8 bit processing? I'm not fully committed to Elements 7, & certainly would be open to suggestions for other processing software. I'm leaning towards Elements 7 primarily because previous Elements software is all I've had experience with. I am working more with B&W lately than I previously have, if that helps with any recommendations you might make.
Well the 8 vs 16 bit thing is an arguable point to be honest. But to put it into the terms I understand.... RAW files are generally at least 10 bit, nowadays 12-14 is becoming common. IF you just use a RAW editor and process to completion then the final process to 8 bit compressed jpg is "good enough" for the most part. IF you export as 16bit TIFF you 1)don't use lossy compression (jpg loses info) 2)Don't truncate your colors due to going from 10-14bit color down to 8 bit. 3)You generally are going to "finish" your processing.
Eventually you will probably convert to jpg anyways but it gives you leeway.
Where 16bit is supposedly superior to 8bit is in gradations (ie sky, water) and will prevent posterization...
Actually just read this
but remember there are counter-arguments.......
RAW, JPEG and TIFF. What they are and when to use them.
Anyways as to Elements there are alternatives that do process 16bit files, and are roughly the same price...
I use Corel Draw Suite (Contains photpaint which has 16bit capacity) but I usually go 1 generation back and get it real cheap...