I give it 5 stars to counter the idiot first reviewer. It's obvious to any G series owner that this camera drops the flip screen and RAW format. Get over it.

Making up for the loss of the flip screen is a higher resolution, bigger fixed screen. It's much nicer than the screen on the G6. I didn't like the loss at first, but i realized i never used it that much except as a means of protecting the screen. It's actually nice to take the camera out , turn it on, and start shooting without having to flip the LCD back into place.

The loss of RAW does not affect me. I'm someone who takes many photos especially of my newborn but I don't do a lot of post processing. RAW files are huge. The pics generally are good enough and digital has always allowed me to take more than necessary and delete any bad ones. The pics taken with the G7 are great quality. I think this is an issue affecting primarily pros who use this as a second camera, but there is great software out there for jpegs. And most people couldn't tell a jpeg pic from a RAW pic. I think Canon erred on this as i don't think this is the issue that will force people to buy its more profitable dslr cameras. DSLR will always be superior for those action shots or low noise high ISO pics. Maybe it will return in the G8 if the series continues. No matter what, Canon is taking a beating in every review for this.

Instead of focusing on what this doesn't have that the G6 had, let's focus on what this one has instead. IS. Image Stableizer. This is very important. It allows you to take the flash off and take hand held shots in low light. No more blurry pics.

Digic III. Allows faster processing and overall performance. Face detection is also new and seems to work nicely.

Hotshoe. Very few non dslr cameras have this although i'm sure the average consumer doesn't care.

6x zoom. Screen. And ability to take wide screen pics.

The camera feels very solid and seems smaller than the g6 and of course looks better with the black. The controls and menus are laid out easier IMO. 10 MP isn't that big of a deal to me although i'm sure it has it's mass appeal. I think 8 might've been better, but i'm not complaining.

Macros are much easier to take with this camera vs the G6. Again, IS helps big time.

Lens cap. What lens cap? This one doesn't need one. Prior G cameras had that loose one that always seemed to pop off.

Battery life seems shorter though so you may want that extra battery this time. (never bought an extra for G6). And it takes SD media which i really don't care for but it is more compatible for me since my laptop has one built in. The movie mode is much improved as well although i have a camcorder for that...it's still nice to have.

Bottom line, 599 is a lot to pay for a camera these days (i paid more for the G2 at the time and thought it was pretty cool back then). But this is a step short of stepping into the expensive and bulky dslr world. You get a lot of tech in this camera. I've owned a G2 and a G6 (that died on me) and this is quickly becoming my favorite by far. It's much faster due to the processor. And you get all the manual controls you could want plus the option to add external flash. For point & shoot consumers, just put it on auto which makes my wife happy.