Saw your "disappointment" with gimp, there is several other builds for gimp you may have better luck with. I use a "portable" build ( http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/gimp_portable ) even on other peeps machines it works fine

or theres a couple of builds on graphicall you might want to try ( http://www.graphicall.org/gimp )

 

have seen a lot moaning about gimp 2.8 so maybe an older version will work for you

 

have fun