Gimp's pretty good once you get the hang of it.
And get used to it crashing everytime it can't find a font.

www.gimp.org
( Bohica Anne Frank's Bukkaki Tentacle Storm, Tue 3 Aug 2004, 15:18, archived)

Teh Crashing
Are you using Gimp 2.0 on Windows 98? I read that 2.0 works better under XP or 2000. I have better luck with ver 1.2 and Win98.

There is also a line in the FAQ for version 2.0 that tells you how to install GTK so that it does not try to use the windows default font (or something like that)
( Whiffert Support the Free Balogna Movement!, Tue 3 Aug 2004, 15:37, archived)