photoshop CS2 is pretty heavy. it's bigger, slower and uses a lot more resources than previous versions. it has a lot of new features and they touched the UI up quite a bit. the way you link layers together is completely different - although it has a couple benefits, i don't like it nearly as much.
if you're not seriously into graphic design, photo editing, etc, you don't really need CS2. CS1 or photoshop 7 would probably be fine.. CS1 was the first photoshop to incorporate more sophisticated RAW image support, if you have a digital camera that uses RAW images.
there's always photoshop elements or paint shop pro. both are much cheaper and probably adequate for average users...
lots of geeks swear by Gimp, but i think that's mostly because it's free. the interface is terrible, and it lacks a lot of important features for professional-level use.
http://www.wpdfd.com/editorial/wpd0504review.htm
microsoft has a beta of a new image editing program available for free. i've never used it, but it doesn't look bad.
http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/
Originally Posted by Grifter
irfanview is more of an image viewing program with a few very-basic editing features. oh, and the editing features suck balls. one of my coworkers installed that on my work computer without asking me. couldn't get rid of it quicker...