I use Paint Shop Pro. I don't really know why I chose it, I just did. There were a lot of tutorials on it, and people were recommending it :). However, Adobe Photoshop is good too, as I've heard. People say it's more advanced and allows you to do more things. I'm sure if you buy either program, you'll be satisfied :P.

Pros
Paint Shop Pro (aka PSP) has a lot of tutorials on it around the neo sites. So does Photoshop (aka PS), but there are tons of versions, so yours might not fit with the tutorial. Paint Shop Pro is a whole lot cheaper than Photoshop. It is a little less advanced, but it's definately still very advanced. Photoshop has extra features as so I've heard, and it's more complex. Both come with animation programs (PSP only comes with an animation program with 7, 8, and 9 [?], because Corel bought the program after those versions). Paint Shop Pro has picture tubes, which are exclusive to the program.

Cons
Paint Shop Pro is a tiny bit less complex. Photoshop is very expensive though. Both are a little hard to use at first. Paint Shop Pro is a lot less common than Photoshop, therefore there are more tutorials on Photoshop on the net. Yes, and they both crash sometimes xD. Photoshop has messy navigation on some of its programs.

w00t!
The two programs are very much alike. It depends on your opinion for which program you want. You should buy free trials of each program and see which one you prefer. Again: I'm sure if you get either program, you'll be happyyyyy :). And... I'm done.

~Nicolette