Hans, Painter has a better paint engine than PS. The priority on purchase would depend on the type of art you want to produce. I went for Painter first, because I had some photo manipulation software that would serve the purpose until I could get PS. I love Painter IX. Never could afford it before Corel bought Jasc. Since I had PSP, I was able to get a price break. There are still discounts going on, at least for this month, for PSP owners. Download is $179 and CD is $229. PS CS2 will be used for everything other than painting in my case. Suzanne