Mo, I think you're far from being a dunce.

There is a bit of a learning curve to GIMP, but the online user guide and links to tutorials are really helpful. The nice thing is that if you really get in over your head, you can simply undo changes or revert to the original image. You won't do any harm by simply diving in and playing with it.

I think it's more user-friendly than Adobe products, but some things cannot be done with one simple keystroke. For instance, if you want to convert a photograph to a line drawing, you'll need to go through several steps.[an illustrated tutorial is available walk you through the steps].

There are some very neat one-step changes, though. One of my favorites is 'oilify', whereby you can make a photograph appear to be a painting. This can run the gamut from very realistic to very abstract, simply by moving a couple of fader bars. Great for portraits and landscapes.