The interface is a little weird, but you'll get used to it. I personally feel that it holds its own with Photoshop (and there are actually a few things it does better).
The Gimp is cool when you have a university assignment that needs spiffying up with a cool logo very quickly, because it has a lot of filters built in you just choose a design and type what you want it to say
Mike
"Now I guess we're... 'Path-E-Tech Management'" -Dilbert