Introduction

For most graphic artists, these days, it's all about GIMP. But does that mean that MSPaint has to be forgotton about? This page explains more.

Simplicity

Let's face it: If you're a beginner, Gimp won't be a walk in the park for you. And even once you get use to it, it'll take a while to make good art, develop a style, etc., unless if you're an art prodigy. But thanks to the popularity of Gimp, many websites have tutorials for GIMP, so you can learn things, from basic tutorials, to banner techniques. However, people who are impatient will get flustered easily trying to tell the magic wand tool from the lasso tool, and they don't have time for tutorials. MSPaint doesn't really have anything complicated, so unless if you know NOTHING about graphic arts or computers at all, MSPaint should be easier for you. So MSPaint wins this round. MSPaint: 1 Gimp: 0

Effects

There's obviously no battle here, since Gimp has gradients, filters, brushes, and more. And I don't even think Paint has any effects. So, GIMP wins this round, tying up the score.


MSPaint:1 Gimp: 1

For Spriters

Both of these are good for spriting, THOUGH IT DEPENDS ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT. Paint wins for simplicity, however, Gimp is in tie for filters, giving a cool effect. However, since Gimp's version of 'spriting' isn't really spriting, and MSPaint's version requires more skill (And is accepted by more artists), MSPaint wins this round..
MSPaint: 2 Gimp:: 1

For Graphic Arts

Paint isn't really good for graphic arts, considering it's just pasting an image and adding text with a simple background, there's not much you can do, unless if you try to make every pixel a different color or something else that takes a long time. Well, Gimp again has brushes, downloadable fonts, and a lot more effects for your graphics and it is easier to make layouts in Gimp, so Gimp wins. Seeing that graphic arts are generally more important and GIMP specializes in them more, I'll give Gimp 3 more points.
MSPaint: 2 Gimp: 4

Conclusion

MSPaint ended with 2 points, winning simplicity and spriting, while Gimp ended up with 4 points, in graphics and effects. Gimp is better in terms of extras, yet could be hard to learn. So, if you've got alot of spare time, Gimp is for you! MSPaint is still good for spriting, in my opinion, though.