Should I change from iPhoto to Aperture ?

In Aperture you can configure the metadata overlays below the thumbnail or images I n the browser and viewer or in list view. You can switch between custom overlays with keywords, IPTC, Exif data. You can have several albums an d smart albums like in iPhoto.

Upgrade to iPhoto 11. then Aperture can open the iPhoto Library and there's no transfer, all your material is there.

You don't use iPhoto Library Manager for multiple albums in iPhoto. You can have as many albums as you like in any version of iPhoto. You might be using it for multiple libraries. Again, you don't need it for that either, but it does add some features. You can simply create a new Library in either application simply by holding the option/alt key on launch, though why you would need mutliple libraries with only 10k photos I have no idea.

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Aperture is a nice application.

It requires some study to get the difference between using iPhoto & Aperture, however.

There are robust features you may love, or you may never use.

Aperture will likely be useful for some time to come, but there is an End of Life sticker on it.

I’ve been reading that it will be decommissioned. No doubt Apple has a better alternative in the wings.

You don’t need the old library manager: You can create multiple libraries in Aperture.

The library manager exists because once an iPhoto library gets very large, it can be cumbersome.

Aperture is quite nice for the most part. Don’t turn it into a junk drawer, though.

Tagging in Aperture is fairly sophisticated. Its not hard.

nevertheless, getting your mind around the best way to organize & tag images has a learning curve to it.

I would recommend reading up on how to structure Aperture & its methodology before you jump in to restructure your images after moving them. Check your local library or online for that information. There are a few decent books available. Read the Aperture manual.

Aperture has a different method than LightRoom’s 2 pronged approach. I can’t say either one is perfect.

Just my opinion.

Both iPhoto and Aperture will be replaced in 2015 with a new app called Photos.

iPhoto and Aperture use the same Library. It's exactly as cumbersome in iPhoto as it is in Aperture - in other words, good for hundreds of thousands of images.

Cloud storage will be optional.

It will look like an app from the Yosemite operating system and will work like a Mac app not an iOS one.

If you are still running multiple platforms on snow leopard it is way, way past time that you upgrade your macs to mavericks (latest vers 10.9.4).

You will then need to then convert your iPhoto08 application software to the current iPhoto11. Be sure you back up your old iPhoto08 libraries before converting to iPhoto11. You can easily turn off iCloud storage options in iPhoto11. You should also check all your mac platforms' specs to see if they can indeed upgrade to Yosemite when released later this year. Good luck.

But will it have the same, or at least most of the features as Aperture, or will it be dumbed down like other Apple programs have lately.

We're going to have to wait and see.

Mind you, I don't necessarily buy that 'dumbed down' comment...

Regarding multiple albums. I am presently using a program called “iPhoto Library manager”. Do I use something like that with Aperture?

Aperture can easily switch between different libraries like iPhoto '11. Use the options key when launching the app or use the "File" menu to ope different libraries. Aperture will also allow you to merge libraries into one or to export partial libraries, so iPhoto lIbrary manager will not be necessary. Merging libraries and exporting partial libraries is built into Aperture.