I gave single window mode a go (it is under the windows pulldown menu) and it works quite well, still have the priorities issue but that is a lot more manageable now. Not sure how long I will stick with it (I do occasionally want the whole screen for the image itself but certainly a nicer feature and a nicer change than ribbon.
Also others do check out paint.net and I have been giving http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/photofiltre_portable a go as well of late (also inkscape but that is a different discussion entirely). They are a bit simpler than GIMP with enough features to be getting on with as well. Frankly though most of the time as soon as people learn what layers are and how to use them as well as how selection works "GIMP is hard" soon disappears.
If you are especially attached to photoshop there is also http://gimpshop.com/ you might want to look at.
Do you reckon we could get a conversation going on as to what sort of things are missing?
Most people usually mention RAW support and although I am not entirely sold on RAW as a must have vs some other lossless format and a properly calibrated (or indeed entirely uncalibrated/largely bypassed setting) and have yet to find a windows program I like as much as http://www.darktable.org/ I will accept it and resist the urge to say workflow.
Inpainting/content aware file and such could be taken care of with Resynthesizer quite well (although I agree it is not quite at the same level). I have not checked out any of the seam carving stuff so I can not comment there.
I guess colours might be troubling if I am sort of person to have to mess with printer colour profiles on a daily basis and spend thousands on a monitor (I forget which terms, acronyms and initialisms I am supposed to use here) to ensure accurate colour replication (not that what I see on magazines or most places has avoided "colour correction").
It might fall short or at least fall outside "paid support/point the finger" country.
I agree unlike some of the adobe stuff I would not even consider this for CAD and design work but I have proper programs for 2d and 3d CAD of various forms.
Also others do check out paint.net and I have been giving http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/photofiltre_portable a go as well of late (also inkscape but that is a different discussion entirely). They are a bit simpler than GIMP with enough features to be getting on with as well. Frankly though most of the time as soon as people learn what layers are and how to use them as well as how selection works "GIMP is hard" soon disappears.
If you are especially attached to photoshop there is also http://gimpshop.com/ you might want to look at.
Not bad, a useful update for the free software. Still won't make me change my Adobe Design Standard for graphics, publishing and photo editing. Good for pretty much anyone who doesn't need the commercial products
Do you reckon we could get a conversation going on as to what sort of things are missing?
Most people usually mention RAW support and although I am not entirely sold on RAW as a must have vs some other lossless format and a properly calibrated (or indeed entirely uncalibrated/largely bypassed setting) and have yet to find a windows program I like as much as http://www.darktable.org/ I will accept it and resist the urge to say workflow.
Inpainting/content aware file and such could be taken care of with Resynthesizer quite well (although I agree it is not quite at the same level). I have not checked out any of the seam carving stuff so I can not comment there.
I guess colours might be troubling if I am sort of person to have to mess with printer colour profiles on a daily basis and spend thousands on a monitor (I forget which terms, acronyms and initialisms I am supposed to use here) to ensure accurate colour replication (not that what I see on magazines or most places has avoided "colour correction").
It might fall short or at least fall outside "paid support/point the finger" country.
I agree unlike some of the adobe stuff I would not even consider this for CAD and design work but I have proper programs for 2d and 3d CAD of various forms.
