There are roughly two types.
1)- stores information in the tags in the actual picture files.
filtering and selection will be done based on these tags
Benefits:
- the information is kept inside the pictures and doesn’t get lost if somthing happens to the organizer
- When transfering or copying the pictures somewhere else, the information thavels along with the pictures.
Disadvantidges:
- The organizer does alter the original picture files.
- All information travels along, also personal information, you might not want to share with the world
2)- Stores information in a database and doesn’t touch the picture files themselfs.

Benefits:
- The original pictures remain untouched
- Easy to build albums
- Allows to use drag-and-drop without moving the actual files
- When sending pictures, there is not private organizer data traveling along
Disadvantedge:
- If anything happens to the organizer database (crash, update or re-install) all organizing info (like e.g. built albums) is lost.
- After sending the picture somewhere else, no information is available anymore about the pictures. (like e.g. descriptions)

Conclusion:
It looks like the best solution is the best of both worlds:
A database driven organizer that is capable of picture tag editing in the picture file itself.
This way, you can add info to the files themselfs, restricted to what you would be prepared to share, and use the database for building you albums and organizing the pictures.

Nezt to this you would like the organizer to be able to search for your pictures, and be able to exclude some PC area’s from the scan to prevent the scan to take forever.
Found files should movable with the organizer up till some extend, to at least put the picture files a little in a controlled area.
For building albums, you don’t realy want the organizer to move the files itself however.

As last item, it would be very nice if the organizer would be capable to compose CD’s that can run in a default DVD movie player (not the one in your PC), so you can also watch the pictures on TV without the need of a PC.

Up till now, I didn’t get much further then Magix and Pictomio that do already a nice job.
However Pictomio doesn’t run on my personal PC since that PC isn’t powerfull enough, unfortunatelly……

I keep you up to date

Some experiences so far.
The Imagic free browser does not have such extensive organising capabilities.
Tagging is very basic, were the picture file is not actualy tagged.
The tag is a database tag.
For compiling albums, the Stoik browser uses a shopping basket.
It does however not store albums.
If you generate a new tag per album, then you use that tag to filter the album pictures together.
Fitering can be done on only 1 selected tag simultaniously.
It does do batch tagging though.
The EXIF info is shown, cannot be editted.
Only editable area (stored in the file) is a comments area.
I could not find a filter option that filters on this comments area.
For organising, one has to rely on the tagging database.

Stoik does export to either a HTML page, or a Slideshow executable, or e-mail.
It does not support slideshows, playable in a dvd player.

However requires a 3D graphics video card,
and is quite heavy on your PC.
I cannot recommend this for older machines.

So after I have some experience with PixVue, I will come back and post my results (I am not so much into standards, but looking for a simple pictuire organizer with simple straight access to picture tags (without all the menu steps in between))

Here is also a useful list of the photo album software titles for anyone who still don’t yet selected his photo organizer:
http://www.photoalbumsoftwarelist.com