Both make great cameras, sensors, processors, and lenses - your friend will be happy with either.

I've always shot Nikon, love it, and have friends shooting Canon - and love it.

Most "testing" is done at the microscopic levels of image sharpness, saturation, etc. stuff we won't be able to discern with the naked eye until we blow up the images at enormous sizes. And you're NOT going to see a significant difference between an 8MP and 10MP image - gotta be honest on that one.

My #1 advice to anyone serious about buying a camera is don't think cheap and inexpensive. Bite the bullet and spend as much as you can save up - the better bodies and lenses will give you more options, as well as better images. They're more expensive for good reasons - from weatherproofing the bodies to MUCH faster (and more quiet for the nature shooters out there) motors for autofocus, minimizing barrel distortion, APO correction, larger image buffers to hold more in-camera while you keep shooting, etc.

Stick with a major brand, don't skimp on the price, and you'll be happy with what you bought.
Good luck and happy shooting-
-Lew ;-)