Hi Barbieq25,
:-))) Yes, I can't deny it's tempting to use Paint.net.
Initially I downloaded it just out of curiosity after someone in a plugins development group mentioned Paint.net can run photoshop plugins.
Not many apps can do that and it's always good to know at least to check if it's a useful editor for starters. Unfortunately starters these days are facing a huge wall of confusion when learning a decent editor due to the fact that all decent editors have turned into bloatware. We were lucky to get familiar with graphics editors when they still were understandable and that motivates a lot more to hang on and eventually discover the more exotic features or tricks.
Anyway, after having installed Paint.net I busted myself, not even knowing the program well, I several times started it for doing simple tasks like cropping, saving screendumps as, etc.. Only because it starts up lightning fast and the basic features are (still?) quickly accessible.
I'm old school; still using Photoshop 6 (you heard it right :-) ) most of the time despite having Elements 9 and PaintShop Pro X3 (and CorelDraw X2, including PhotoPaint X2) as well. I'm not really font of the modern editors because they're slow (no I haven't got a quad core 16 THz machine) and the menus got bloated. Not to speak of the built-in photo organizers consuming workspace, performance and taking over file associations, and response to inserting external media). GIMP I didn't like much either.
Not Paint.net; it starts up fast, it's clear, supports layers and even native and Photoshop plugins (so I've heard it's not working flawless, though), and the most used features are quickly accessible. Did I mention effects instantly being rendered while changing control settings? :-P
Still some features are limited like the text tool rastering its layer, which makes it harder to apply certain effects (drop shadow, bevel, etc.).
It's nice: installed it just to get an impression of what it's like, turning out in something I am actually starting to use :-)
If it would support Dutch language I'd definitely recommend it to some people I know; people who tried a popular editor but gave up as it looked too confusing and complicated. Know someone who is doing his graphics in Windows Paint!
Roberto