A beta of Photo Mechanic 4.5 has been released. Despite the minor number change, this is a relatively large update in terms of new features. The new five-star rating system is designed to be compatible with Adobe Bridge. Indeed, many of the changes center on PM's ability to properly and reliably handle meta data, including EXIF, IPTC, manufacturer's tags, and special items such as the star ratings. Other key new features include the ability to control the formatting of Web Gallery creations via Ruby (a programming language), and the ability to plot a photo via Google maps.