Open Source Version of Photoshop

I don't want to upgrade Photoshop, Excel & Word when I buy a new Mac. The versions I have won't work with a new Mac & I don't use them that much. What is the best Open Source application to replace Photoshop, MS Word & Excel.

I tried to download Gimp 2.0, but got lost when it said I had to use a different installer. What's the easiest way to get free copies of these kinds of programs for an "old, poor, senior citizen"... or... just maybe just a "Cheapo" like me! LOL!

LibreOffice is a replacement for MS Office (Word, Excel). There is no good replacement for Photoshop, if you don't want Gimp. But what do you do with Photoshop? There may be a different application that does what you need without all the extras that Photoshop brings.

Note: there are two versions of Gimp... one that requires X11 and one that doesn't.
Choose wisely.

I thought the Mac version as a whole moved away from X11 or are there two separate versions?

There were two separate versions last time I looked. Been a while though.
http://gimp.lisanet.de/Website/Support.html

I can't second the suggestion for LibreOffice, because a new Mac will come with Pages, which is FAR superior in my opinion. There are many other options, and I'm not knocking LibreOffice if you can put up with the 90s interface, but Pages just does that job beautifully.

As for a Photoshop alternative, the best I've found is Pixelmator ($30 I believe), and it was just updated today to add extensions to Photos, which will be invaluable to me as I transition to it. Others here really like Affinity Photo ($50), but I haven't tried it. The company is great, though.

I know free is attractive, but you're old enough now to know you get what you pay for, so get in the habit of buying the software you really use and like. There are a wealth of benefits in doing so, plus Mac software is SO CHEAP.

Be aware, however, that some of the Mac software (Pages, Numbers, etc), while very useful, may not be fully compatible and/or operate the same way as you are used to, while LibreOffice is more Office-like, particularly the older versions of Office. Chas_m is a real Apple enthusiast, so he firmly believes that anything Apple makes is superior to anything anybody else makes, but whether or not that may be true, sometimes you get software not for what it does, but HOW you interact with it. But before you make any decision, what makes you think this applies to you?

The versions I have won't work with a new Mac

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You haven't given specs, beyond that it's a 27" iMac and 13" MBP. What year? What model? What version of OS X are you presently running? Why do you think what you have won't run on El Capitan, or whatever you can upgrade your system to?

MacInWin said:

Chas_m is a real Apple enthusiast, so he firmly believes that anything Apple makes is superior to anything anybody else makes

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Not actually true at all. I am certainly an enthusiast -- as is everyone here -- but I by no means hold that belief. When I say a program is good, it is because I have used most everything else in that area and find it to be the best. Have you looked at Microsoft Office for Mac in the last 5 years? It doesn't look ANYTHING like LibreOffice/OpenOffice! This perception that LibreOffice is "just like" MS Office is based on MS Office from more than a decade ago, and of course that's familiar to veterans who've been with Office for a long time -- but I think you're really not giving Microsoft Office credit for evolving, which in the latest version they have done a splendid job of doing. LibreOffice is like a campfire -- it does the job and has its charms, but it doesn't really compare to a stove with an oven when you need to do some serious cooking!

There are literally DOZENS of programs I think are better made than the Apple version (SimpleNote over TextEdit, Fantastical over Calendar, to name but two quick examples). The fact that Apple is OFTEN the best option for most people in a lot of different areas doesn't mean I am blind to anything non-Apple, and I resent your completely unfounded implication to the contrary. Unlike a lot of people around here, I don't recommend stuff until I've tried the rest so I know what I speak of. Part of my job involves reviewing things, and you simply can't do that well if you have no idea what else is out there.

On top of that, I did make clear that my statement was just an opinion -- something you didn't bother to do when you spouted your ill-informed conjecture. Maybe take a note of that from now on.

MacInWin said:

LibreOffice is a replacement for MS Office (Word, Excel). There is no good replacement for Photoshop, if you don't want Gimp. But what do you do with Photoshop? There may be a different application that does what you need without all the extras that Photoshop brings.

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I simply correct & label photographs & cartoons as to image size, color density, contrast, sharpness, etc!

What is the "EASIEST" way to get, download Gimp?

http://gimp.lisanet.de/Website/Download.html
The newer versions are native (don't need X11).

Have fun with that. You get what you pay for.

High quality software that is under active development like other great open source software?

Are the specs you quote in your avatar, a 27" iMac, correct? If so don't worry, if Office is running now, it may on an upgrade. What version? 2008 is compatible, 2004 is not.