If you are used to Lightroom's interface, Capture One's interface will be quite overwhelming as I think Adobe had did a great job in simplifying things in Lightroom.
But when it comes to default colors (straight loaded from RAW) with no camera presets applied, Capture One sure looks better than the "Adobe Standard" profile. In general, I find the colors in Capture One "nicer". But colors can be quite subjective based on individual preferences.
Personally, Capture One does have a steep learning curve for me (to find the menus for stuffs you want to do and HOW to use the tools) as I've been too used to Lightroom. But the menu items are fully customizable to your wants.
Btw, you can download a trial copy and play around with it.
Hope this helps.
btw, should have posted this in the "Digital Darkroom" (
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=63) subforum... this section is more for Video stuffs. Unless you are referring to Capture One vs Lighroom for video...
