I am not sure what the negative reviews are all about, if you were surpised that the free version was a scaled down offering from the full, paid version then life in general is probably one big surprise for you.
I am a professional web designer and I am very particular about the programs I work with and I have to say that making a slide show for my 8 year old daughter's class was an absolute pleasure. As a matter fo fact she did half the work easily. Everything that was promised worked flawlessly and the end result was stunning. I hardly every run into a program that works this precisely and with vritually zero mistakes. Yes, I had to pay for the premium version, but I gladly pay money for a great product. Thanks for giving me and my daughter such a fun time together.
Andre