If it can't edit pixel data, then it doesn't qualify as such, no. Besides, there's a reason PS is the industry standard.
Dude, seriously? Have you even tried FW? Fireworks has all the basic functions in Photoshop related to bitmap editing. The only thing Fireworks doesn't have is those advanced filter things, such as the one that turns your image into a pencil drawing.
Did you seriously expect Fireworks to be unable to edit bitmaps? That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard. And you call yourself the Elitist Graphics Whore?
No matter what you say, IMO Fireworks is still way better than Photoshop. I admit that I haven't tried CS4, but from what I've used in the past, the only thing I have to say to PS is that how the heck can anyone stand to use such a clumsy layer system? Fireworks has OBJECTS, as well as layers; you can easily select, move, and edit them at will. In PS, you have to move everything on the same layer at once; and to copy and paste something, you have to go right click and duplicate layer. To me, I like to use minimum effort on manipulating the images so that I can focus everything on editing the images.
Don't forget my main point, in case you saw my post and thought "tl;dr". Fireworks is able to edit pixel data. Does it qualify now?
