Yet another illustrator question.

[myront]

Click on edit original, and it will open in Photoshop. It needs to be a linked asset though.

So I see that one would have to change all defaults for png, bmp, jpg, etc. to open in photoshop in order to use the "Edit Orig" button for any.
That's why it's much better in Corel. Doesn't matter how you have your defaults set. You can hit Edit Bitmap and PhotoPaint will open any raster type.
my default for psd's is photoshop
default for png & jpg is Google Chrome
eps = illustrator

 

[StephenOrange]

Here’s another option seeing as how clicking “embed” is too much trouble or utilising the “links” panel to multi embed images:
To have Illustrator automatically embed images instead of linking them by default, adjust the "Link" checkbox setting within the "Place" dialog box. When placing an image, uncheck the "Link" box in the "Place" dialog. This setting will be remembered for subsequent image placements until you change it again.
You really are making such an issue out of this simply because it’s not the way you’re used to do things. The system works, just learn about the pros and cons and go with it.