As a teacher of EQ as well as a user I feel that EQ7 is a great buy for the money! EQ6 has a limit on loadable applications. You get 4 per purchase! If your friend has only used 1 then it maybe a good buy. If she has used more than 1 I would save for EQ7. EQ7 has a photo shop built into the program. It has a few upgrades that EQ6 does not have. So older technology vs newer. I have yet to really explore the photo piece. I have worked in it and love the tracing features and importing my photos to design a quilt. You can also print a photo to quilt size frame buy frame! The EQ7 cavat is that you can load it on as many computers as you like, but only 2 can be active at any given time. I love EQ7 but EQ6 is an excellent program. I hope this has helped! Luann in CT