I ask because none of the LGS's in my city have the Anniversary edition, but a few have the standard 4th Edition at a good price. A number of the big online book retailers I've checked also don't have it in stock, and the new and used copies being sold by alternate sellers are being offered at a premium price. I've noticed it's in stock for $30 on Amazon.com, but I'm in Canada and after shipping it'll cost a fair amount more.
I've read a number of reviews of the standard 4th Edition on RPG.NET and Amazon.com and just about everyone gave it a thumbs up, with the exception that a few mentioned that The Matrix wasn't well explained. Since this would be my 1st and only Shadowrun game, I'm not even sure how that works or what it entails. Like all my RPGs, I'd like the core rule to at least be in a book that the players can leaf through. The other books I'd likely purchase as PDF's via drivethrurpg.
So I'm curious to hear if the Anniversary Ed is signficantly better - epecially if it improves on the standard 4th Ed to the extent that it's no longer worth considering?