I agree with Doug's comments. AIP4Win really seems to be very slow when dealing with images from a Canon 350D (8mp). I have never really used it for this reason, which is a pity, because ther seem to be some really good features if only one could get them to work at a reasonable rate.
The book is, however, is well worth while. In fact I would say that it is obligatory reading for every aspiring astroimager.
BTW I use imagesPlus for the initial raw conversion, calibration and stacking and the switch to Photoshop.
Geoff