Windows finally gets camera RAW support

[marypcbuk]

I don't use an SLR; I pack my nifty, tiny, powerful Casio Exilim and I replace it about once every 18 months to get a new feature like in-camera HDR. But I'm always envious of the great pictures Simon takes with his Nikon and he's started using RAW. He started doing that around about the time that Windows finally got support for RAW formats from over 100 cameras (and a commitment to keep the format support up to date).

So: what do you get and how well does it work and why it isn't a replacement for Aperture or Lightroom