Installs ok on 32-bit Vista SP2 patched with 8G RAM the blurb on their site does imply that there are some additional features that Howler 8.2 may lack but there are features that Particle 9 does lack like the use of layers, the don't exist in Particle but do in Howler 8.2

IF you missed the Howler 8.2 SE giveaway a few years back you can get it again under a renamed scheme at

http://www.thebest3d.com/howler/download/home-edition/index.html

It apears to be the same product as we had here before with a slightly modified text in the initial popup that removes the reference to giveaway of the day.

I just noticed something worrying, my Howler 8.2 SE instalation has started throwing up an error since installing Particle 9 The specific Error text I get is "Unexpected Error quiting" in an Error alert box dismissed with an OK button and it fails to launch, IF there is a choice between Howler 8.2 SE and particle 9, I'll be choosing Howler 8.2 SE as it has more normal graphics manipulation features I'm likely to need and if I have to I'll remove both and install the home/learning howler 8.2 SE from the above link to get back what this giveaway seems to have destroyed!

If you still have the more comprehensive Project Dogwaffle Howler 8.2 special edition offered here in june 2013, this one is redundant. Otherwise, have a try, if only for fun!

To clarify - this app is part of Howler? Or which is the application that has all the functionality? Reason I ask, is that this app is neat, but if it is part of a complete/better collection of software, I would rather buy that. And Howler has great functionality!

FWIW, & completely just my own opinion & all that, think Particle 9 might benefit from the new Microsoft tool [bridge], converting it into a universal app to be featured in their store. The regular version could continue as-is I'd imagine, for all those not using 10. While there might or might not be marketing advantages to be had for Particle 9 as a UWP [Universal Windows Platform] app, I'd expect it would remove the limitations of using VB5 [Visual Basic 5]. The app itself is interesting & capable enough that I could live with the added 5.8k registry entries, but I've still got some [almost as ancient] VB6 stuff I need to run, & compatibility issues have meant running Dogwaffle apps in a VM rather than my regular Windows installs. [If you have stuff that uses VB6, note that installation will change defaults from VB6 to VB5 files, though reinstalling VB6 might get everything working.]

Particle 9 itself is quite responsive -- more so than many apps with somewhat similar painting features -- & I'd expect it would work well on many less powerful systems or devices. That said, the many features & options mean a more complicated GUI, which while it's well designed, I feel would just be too much on a smaller tablet. It would IMHO likely be ideal on a larger tablet with a touchpad or mouse for the menus, & a higher quality touchscreen for painting &/or drawing [you won't get great results, likely can't even draw a smooth line regardless the app, using the touch screens on most economical tablets].

On a desktop or laptop PC, while you can certainly paint with a mouse, you'll get so much more out of software like this using a drawing tablet -- I've seen tablets large enough for this sort of thing start in the $30 range on sale.

As far as alternative software goes, many image editing apps also include painting features, Corel's Painter is likely the 800 lb gorilla in the room [VERY rarely on sale as low as $99], there's TwistedBrush, & Autodesk has Sketchbook etc. IMHO what makes Dogwaffle software stand out is its particle effects... a great many things in the real world appear random, whether you're talking about blades of grass or leaves, or things like clouds & smoke, & particle effects let you create that sort of thing.

If it wasn't for the VB5 issues I'd buy Particle 9 in a heartbeat -- at $8 it's a steal -- & that's with already owning Painter 2016, Sketchbook etc.