I would like to point out that the Gimp now has a single window mode that is available under the windows menu. This makes the interface magnitudes better, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
The Gimp definitely doesn't meet the needs of a professional, but it is still very powerful. If you have some reasonable knowledge of how to use it or Photoshop you can do some amazing things. I think it does a very good job of meeting the graphics needs of the opensource community and people who need the power of an editor like Photoshop, but don't need all of the new advanced features of Photoshop and don't want to be a pirate.
Personally I love the Gimp now that I am used to it. Even when I had Photoshop (acquired through my school) I found myself using the gimp instead. I just wish it was more polished, the fact that brushes are still so clumsily implemented is really frustrating. Oh well, if I really want to paint something I will use MyPaint, which is an amazing project that has developed a million times faster than the Gimp.
The Gimp definitely doesn't meet the needs of a professional, but it is still very powerful. If you have some reasonable knowledge of how to use it or Photoshop you can do some amazing things. I think it does a very good job of meeting the graphics needs of the opensource community and people who need the power of an editor like Photoshop, but don't need all of the new advanced features of Photoshop and don't want to be a pirate.
Personally I love the Gimp now that I am used to it. Even when I had Photoshop (acquired through my school) I found myself using the gimp instead. I just wish it was more polished, the fact that brushes are still so clumsily implemented is really frustrating. Oh well, if I really want to paint something I will use MyPaint, which is an amazing project that has developed a million times faster than the Gimp.