I have been spending hours putting specific metadata into the Spotlight Comments box via the Get Info window. In 10.3, I often used R-Name to rename my photo files with the year of the photo at the beginning of the filename. So I tried R-name to change the year in 10.4, and I was shocked to find that it erased all of my Spotlight comments!! Thankfully, I realized this had happened after modifying only one folder of archived photos, and not globally over my hundreds of annotated files!
Generic warning: Before using your favorite renaming utility in 10.4, try renaming a duplicate folder to make sure that it leaves all comments intact! Please post a comment regarding your favorite renaming utility and tell us if it plays nice or not.
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20050513131116929