With the improved access to synchrotron radiation sources photoemission electron microscopy is developing into a versatile analytical tool in surface and materials science. The broad spectral range and the well-defined polarization characteristics of synchrotron light permit a unique combination of topographic, chemical, and even magnetic investigations down to a mesoscopic scale. The potentiality of photoemission electron microscopy is demonstrated by several experiments on surfaces and microstructured thin film systems, which have been carried out with a newly designed instrument. We discuss its different modes of operation with respect to both microscopy and spectroscopy. A combination of elemental selectivity and magnetic sensitivity is achieved by using circularly polarized soft X-rays and exploiting the effect of magnetic circular dichroism. This way one obtains information about the magnetic state of individual chemical components within the sample.