I know that Adobe Photoshop is the standard software for Picture editing. By the way, I use since a long time Corel Paint Shop and I find it excellent, cheaper and with a simpler workspace. I tried many times Photoshop but I never found a task, among my needs, that Paint Shop can't perform.
I shoot only in RAW, then I process by Lightroom 3.5. Usually that's enough to get the final .jpg that I need.
But, if I have to make massive cloning, or removing disturbing objects, or masking specific areas, I use with great satisfaction Paint Shop, that now is at X4 release.
Am I the only one using Paint Shop?