may i ask a question...
why buy a tool you cannot use? why not use gimp to learn (its pretty much the exact same as photoshop with a little bit less functions)
other than paying $700 for something you cannot use...
I started with MS paint (making layouts and pixel people)before i got Macromedia Fireworks (now adobe)
then i upgraded to Corel paintshop pro, but didn't like it so upgraded to Photoshop 8 at the time ,then when CS2 came out i got that now cs4 is out i have only just got that
that is over 3 - 4 years, when i first opened photoshop, even after my previous experiences, i hadn't a clue how to use it, I tried to make my layout on it and couldnt work layers, and there wasnt shape tools like there is in MS paint so i really disliked it to start with, now i wouldn't give it up for anything, (took me about 2 - 3 months to figure out the basics of it then a further 1 year - 2 to use it the way i do today, and i still learn more on it almost every day.) when i used MS paint i made the gradients my self pixel by pixel (yes literally!!) took me about 30 - 40 mins to make a gradient for a banner sized 150x800 (i needed to paint 150 pixels changing the hue, tone etc each time) then i stretched it once i was done