Paul, you're right. Not a whole lot of changes between v. 8 and v. 9, but the bug fixes and improved functionality of the Web Import Bar are important ones.
Rick, just caught this thread.
Here is some MasterCook information that you might find useful.
For in-depth information about MasterCook, a web site is available with lots of goodies and good advice at
http://mastercook_cupboard.tripod.com/ (free)
For the unofficial MasterCook Help Site (join; free):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MastercookDiscussion/
This is an amazingly good help site. The people who do the help have been on board since MasterCook was owned by Sierra many years ago and are extremely helpful. The wait for an answer is usually very short...might occasionally be a day on a weekend, but not often. They are unpaid volunteers and have been dedicated to this for a long time. I can't speak highly enough about them. A lot of folks who are thinking about getting MasterCook ask questions there, as well as experienced users with complicated questions. Don't forget...this is a Help site and just a few of the multitude of MC owners use it. Most owners never ask questions, or need to.
Also, there is a *.pdf file of the Version 9 User's Manual that might be interesting.
Check the FAQs for information on what each version includes. In my opinion, the latest version, Version 9, is the one to get. You will get some bug fixes and improved functionality with the very popular Web Import Bar, among a few other things. It is a very sophisticated program and at the current price, it's a real bargain. My first MasterCook version many years ago was around $50 if I recall correctly.
One of the larger MasterCook sites for recipes is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MasterCook/
These recipes are posted by users.
Here's another good one:
http://www.madsrecipes.com/
He has many recipes formatted from Food Network shows, Williams-Sonoma, and other popular sources.
There was a really good discussion on these boards a year or two ago, so you might do a search on these boards. Hopefully it was not in the Just Conversation forum! No, I think it's still there, in another forum (recipe requests). Begin the search (for "MasterCook") on the main forums page rather than in an individual forum.
Rita