I have been having a nightmare of a time trying to open DNG files in Aperture 3 (trial version) and I'm wondering whether to just give up on it in favour of Lightroom or Photoshop. The raw files ...

But Adobe created an open-source digital negative format called DNG. A DNG is a RAW photo file but, because it is open-source, DNG is widely compatible with a number of different applications.

DNG is an open format, and it's (possibly) more likely they will be viewable in the future. Export the photos as JPGs and delete the RAW files. Keep both RAW and exported JPGs. What do you guys think?

Click 'Open Folder'. When the file selection screen opens, open the folder containing the RAW image files you want to edit and click 'Select Folder'.