I can't find it but thought that somewhere on thier website, GIMP did say they were not a Photoshop equivilant. The version (6) of PS I have used certainly does seem to me to have more features but nothing I'd be likely to use. I also find it more intuitave but the GIMP isnt bad once you get to know where bits are.

I'm only an occasional dabbler but have tried several graphics programs that have come on scanner/printer disks and downloads, etc. including paintshop pro. Of the free/cheaper shareware programs, GIMP is easily my favourite and even though it is free, I suspect it could be used professionally.

I think it is a big mistake to consider that as software is free it needs to mean it is substandard. In the web type area, anyone who has played with Apache or used linux/freebsd or maybe used MySQL as a database will know that. Large companies would not be using such software (which is more widely used than MS products) if it was unreliable or performed badly.