I started with 2nd ed and moved to third. It was a pain converting characters since they got rid of the all around "fire-arms" skill, which made sense. I liked the feel of the first and second ed books. I am a very visual person and loved having a page dedicated to each weapon and vehicle, pictures, stats everything. It's so much easier to show them what an ARES Master looks like, or the Vindicator Mini-gun as opposed to just guessing. I own almost all first and second ed books, plus most of the third ed ones before FASA closed it's doors.
I would love to get in on a SR campain or run one, but no one around here seems to care. Oh well.
I loved the Dragons of the Sixth Age book!