Best Art / Design Software

Hi, I wanted to see which art / design software people here liked the best. I am a prior Corel user, but it’s been a while so I don’t really remember it, but I remember that it was hard for me to use. but I would get the upgrade price if I went with Corel, but I’d have to get the full version if I go with Adobe or something else. (of course if you know of something FREE) – that’d be really cool..

I am also looking for a good photo editing package too. I was using the paint shop pro prior to upgrading my xp, and when I did, it quit working. Now they want me to pay to upgrade it. I am thinking about paying the upgrade fee, and I really like the package, but since money is involved, I thought I should research all the packages out there.

thanks so much

this is really important to me, so I really appreciate your help.
Rick