[gchappel]

One real question- what are you actually doing in Photoshop?
Most people only use 10% or so of the programs capabilities. If all you are doing is cropping and changing exposure, almost any of the above mentioned programs will work fine. If you are doing work with dozens or hundreds of layers, complex masking, etc--- photoshop is still the king. (IMHO)
I guess I do not really see the issue with only licensing a program. Yes you can "own" the right to use the program long term- but at what cost?
There is the cost of relearning a new program- which for some is a real cost.
Legacy programs still work on some systems- but will not read the raw images from newer cameras. You can shoot in jpg and they will be fine.
It is so little money- like a $10expresso a month, I just continue to use what I am comfortable with.
Depends on how you want to spend your time/money
gary