Okay....figured since I'm 24 hours into this whole PS CS2 experience, I'd post my personal opinions....
Now, keep in mind that I'm new to PS and might not know all the tricks....and haven't had time to track down tuts. 
Spoilered for length.....
Now, keep in mind that I'm new to PS and might not know all the tricks....and haven't had time to track down tuts. Spoilered for length.....Spoiler:
So far, I'm liking Gimp better. For several reasons, and I'll outline below. But I do like having PS. It means I can do all those great coloring techniques I've been drooling over. I'm currently working on a sig that'll be a combo of Gimp and PS just so I can get the coloring. 
Why I like Gimp better......Let me count the ways! LOL!
1. Opening layers. In CS2, you have to open the image, duplicate the background layer, and then paste into your project. In Gimp, you hit "Open as Layers" and it's automatically in your project.
2. Scaling/Rotating/Etc. In CS2, you have to open your image, duplicate your image, paste it into your artwork, go to Edit-->Transform-->Scale. Then, tell it to keep aspect ratio, then scale. Every single time. In Gimp, the Scale button is right in the toolbox. You open as a layer, click on the Scale key, tell it to keep aspect ratio, and scale. And it doesn't turn off "Keep Aspect Ratio" until you tell it to. That means, I can open as many images as I want in Gimp and scale all of them without having to tell it to keep aspect ratio more than once. The same goes for Rotate and any of the Transform functions.
3. The Undo function. There's probably a better way to do this, but I don't know it yet. In Gimp, if you don't like how something turned out, you can hit Ctrl-Z or Edit-->Undo to undo it. For something like 20 steps. It keeps a history. In CS2, you can only do that for your latest step. So, if you don't like how you erased something, and you clicked the eraser four times, you have to start over with that image....Gimp, just click the Undo quick keys or in the Edit menu, and stop where you want it.
4. Filters. Some of the filters in CS2 are great, like Paint Daubs and all those wonderful things. But, in Gimp, I can control how sharp my image becomes. I haven't yet found how to do that in CS2. (Granted, I've only been using it for about 24 hours.)
5. Cropping. In CS2, you have to use this weird rectangle select method to crop just one layer, which Nola already kindly explained. In Gimp, you can select "Crop Current Layer Only" and done.
6. Moving layers around. This appears on both lists. In this sense, CS2 has less control (in my opinion) than Gimp does. In Gimp, I can duplicate text layers and such, move them just one pixel or so off from each other to create a shadow of sorts. In PS, the moment layers get close to one another, they lock in. This can be really great if you're doing a lot of cropping and need your layers to line up, but it can also be a nuisance when you don't want them to line up and they do.
What I DO like about CS2......
1. Coloring. SOOOO many more options. Absolutely loving the coloring options!
2. Filters. With the exception of things like Sharpen and such where you have a lot of control over them, most of the filters in CS2 are great. In fact, on my latest project, I opened an image of Rachel Weisz in CS2, applied Paint Daubs, saved it as a .jpg, and then transferred it over to Gimp for putting the sig together.
3. Moving Layers around. In Gimp, if the layer isn't on top of the stack, you can't move it unless the layer on top has been rendered invisible or erased away. In CS2, it doesn't matter.
4. Warping the text. That's a nifty little trick that I'll probably use since all my fonts transferred over to CS2. In Gimp, you don't have that option.
5. How PS opens the images. In Gimp, when I open an image, it comes up with a list. So I either need to know what my image is called or click the "Generate Image Preview" button every time until the program recognizes the image. When you have as many textures and stocks as I have, that gets very tiring. In PS, when you open an image, it has the picture right there like you were opening "My Pictures" on your computer.
All in all, 24 hours into using PS, I'm finding that both programs have pros and cons. PS feels a lot more cumbersome in a lot of ways over Gimp, which has things at a "point and click" method. (And this could be because I'm using CS2 and not something that is newer. Or because I'm so new to CS2 and really know Gimp.) However, PS has features that Gimp doesn't: filters (including photo filters), selective coloring, etc. So I'll likely wind up using a mix between the two programs: Gimp for composition, PS for coloring.
Other than that, I'm having a ball with it. Like I said, working on one of my fav tuts now that I can actually do the selective coloring and adjustment layers.
Why I like Gimp better......Let me count the ways! LOL!
1. Opening layers. In CS2, you have to open the image, duplicate the background layer, and then paste into your project. In Gimp, you hit "Open as Layers" and it's automatically in your project.
2. Scaling/Rotating/Etc. In CS2, you have to open your image, duplicate your image, paste it into your artwork, go to Edit-->Transform-->Scale. Then, tell it to keep aspect ratio, then scale. Every single time. In Gimp, the Scale button is right in the toolbox. You open as a layer, click on the Scale key, tell it to keep aspect ratio, and scale. And it doesn't turn off "Keep Aspect Ratio" until you tell it to. That means, I can open as many images as I want in Gimp and scale all of them without having to tell it to keep aspect ratio more than once. The same goes for Rotate and any of the Transform functions.
3. The Undo function. There's probably a better way to do this, but I don't know it yet. In Gimp, if you don't like how something turned out, you can hit Ctrl-Z or Edit-->Undo to undo it. For something like 20 steps. It keeps a history. In CS2, you can only do that for your latest step. So, if you don't like how you erased something, and you clicked the eraser four times, you have to start over with that image....Gimp, just click the Undo quick keys or in the Edit menu, and stop where you want it.
4. Filters. Some of the filters in CS2 are great, like Paint Daubs and all those wonderful things. But, in Gimp, I can control how sharp my image becomes. I haven't yet found how to do that in CS2. (Granted, I've only been using it for about 24 hours.)
5. Cropping. In CS2, you have to use this weird rectangle select method to crop just one layer, which Nola already kindly explained. In Gimp, you can select "Crop Current Layer Only" and done.
6. Moving layers around. This appears on both lists. In this sense, CS2 has less control (in my opinion) than Gimp does. In Gimp, I can duplicate text layers and such, move them just one pixel or so off from each other to create a shadow of sorts. In PS, the moment layers get close to one another, they lock in. This can be really great if you're doing a lot of cropping and need your layers to line up, but it can also be a nuisance when you don't want them to line up and they do.
What I DO like about CS2......
1. Coloring. SOOOO many more options. Absolutely loving the coloring options!
2. Filters. With the exception of things like Sharpen and such where you have a lot of control over them, most of the filters in CS2 are great. In fact, on my latest project, I opened an image of Rachel Weisz in CS2, applied Paint Daubs, saved it as a .jpg, and then transferred it over to Gimp for putting the sig together.
3. Moving Layers around. In Gimp, if the layer isn't on top of the stack, you can't move it unless the layer on top has been rendered invisible or erased away. In CS2, it doesn't matter.
4. Warping the text. That's a nifty little trick that I'll probably use since all my fonts transferred over to CS2. In Gimp, you don't have that option.
5. How PS opens the images. In Gimp, when I open an image, it comes up with a list. So I either need to know what my image is called or click the "Generate Image Preview" button every time until the program recognizes the image. When you have as many textures and stocks as I have, that gets very tiring. In PS, when you open an image, it has the picture right there like you were opening "My Pictures" on your computer.
All in all, 24 hours into using PS, I'm finding that both programs have pros and cons. PS feels a lot more cumbersome in a lot of ways over Gimp, which has things at a "point and click" method. (And this could be because I'm using CS2 and not something that is newer. Or because I'm so new to CS2 and really know Gimp.) However, PS has features that Gimp doesn't: filters (including photo filters), selective coloring, etc. So I'll likely wind up using a mix between the two programs: Gimp for composition, PS for coloring.
Other than that, I'm having a ball with it. Like I said, working on one of my fav tuts now that I can actually do the selective coloring and adjustment layers.
It's what you get used to 
I remember constantly asking 'where is this?', 'how do I do that?' until I got the hang of it
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