Really, the best solution at present to this is to store all your information about an image in its EXIF/IPTC metadata. Then you can move and copy at will and the information goes with the image.
The only problem I can see with the EXIF approach is loss of comments. Also, can anyone recommend a program to edit the EXIF info? I use Paintshop Pro 7 for my photo editing and it doesn't support EXIF, and editing the info through Windows explorer is a pain.
Adobe Bridge comes with the quite expensive Adobe CS3 Collections. I suggest to look at www.versiontracker.com, there are surely loads of free or shareware solutions.
Comments
Also, can anyone recommend a program to edit the EXIF info? I use Paintshop Pro 7 for my photo editing and it doesn't support EXIF, and editing the info through Windows explorer is a pain.