>>I agree. If you really, really want to have a different background, a BMP file allows you to be more expressive than words could ever be. (A picture is worth a 1000 words...)
>
>I have never once seen a picture that says to me "Edit",

Me neither. :)

>but the word is fairly easy to understand. Why would you want to say a 1000 words to a user when you want to say "Add"? Its kindof silly/overkill.

In some cases I agree; in others, I don't. We've taken the stand of using an icon for the picture on ComandButtons, with a "sub-title" (for lack of a better term) under the button that is the word. We are currently taking the steps to make the words changable by the user (for multi-language or terminology for different industries).

>IMO, the only good pictures are for is to take up less space and still have something recognizable after the user learns its meaning. Especially within data-centric apps where you often need words to reflect "Commit Changes", "Revert", "Filter", and "Edit". This opinion comes from working with a lot of very dumb users that you would normally have to teach watch each "purdy picture" means too.

Believe me, I know the feeling. Some terms most certainly DO NOT lend themselves to being described with a picture any better than a simple word does. However, we have found that most users can "make the connection" between a picture and "what they want to do" and retain that, much easier. I don't know if it's because the symbol triggers something in their memory better than a word does, or if it's just a position on the form. Whichever it is, it works OK for our apps. YMMV.