Re: Does it still hate the user?
I think it's gotten much friendlier (personal opinion). It hardly bites ever, and only messes on your foot now and then. (I'm on 2.8.10, in Ubuntu, Mint, or Fedora, depending.)
Teh Gimp's got single-window mode since a couple of revisions ago, which does away with the floating ducks if you want. I mean docks! I still have trouble with the text tool. Other stuff seems pretty easy to figure out, supposing that you're familiar with a graphics editor providing multiple selection tools, color curve / level features, filters, etc.
But to tell the truth, I've been using it long enough to not remember where my original learning curve was steepest. I suppose it was getting used to layers. But Photoshop uses layers as well.
Thanks, El Reg, for the article. I look forward to the stable release.