Congrats from someone who also recently signed up.
Also for editing pictures I suspect the most favored is Photoshop can also try
Paint Shop Pro. Last time I tryed it (1999 so don't take this as gospel) I didn't like it though it might be because I was used to Photoshop at the time.
If your on a Mac there is
Graphic Converter. Which I think has some editing abilities.
None of them are Photoshop so I always feel a bit wierd using them.