It depends on what you would like to achieve.
The newest Photoshop (not Photoshop Elements, that is a different product) certainly has more features, which is one of the reasons people use it, the other one probably being that they asked a friend in a funny hat for advice about what to use to edit their images.
Photoshop Elements probably has some features the GIMP doesn't and vice versa, although I haven't tried its latest version.
GIMPshop is now behind the current version of the GIMP by quite a bit feature wise.
Anyway, if you're a novice and you're willing to learn something, then the GIMP will serve you very well. Most editors of its class and above have similar functionality, so a transition should be rather easy.
The GIMP is quite easy to use, really. I've written a little something to help people get started, but it's far from being finished. Still, it should help you a bit.
Links:
http://www.slapo.net/ine/tuts/gimp_minibook.zip
http://www.slapo.net/ine/tuts/gimp_smart_sharpening_enhanced.pdf
Whether you'll be able to do what you want in the GIMP depends mostly on how much you're familiar with it, but TP members are likely to help you a bit if you get into something you feel you need some help with.
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