Hi,
I am using MacBook Pro with Core 2 Duo, 2.8 GHZ, 4GB memory and a 7200 RPM disk (internal) and a 2TB 7200 rpm (FW800 external)
The pics are JPG, I have it set to empty cache on quit. I distributed the 14.000 images to 10 folders and it seems to work better. Anyway if I close and re-open it seems to work. It seems to stop rendering after loading the batch - opening and closing works.
I have not tried any other program as of yet.
Cheers,
Hilmar