faststone. as a beginner i like but why?

i have been looking at various software photoshop elements 10, paintshop pro, ACDsee ect ect...

but out of all of them the one that i really like is and not mentioned is free and that is Faststone. i dont really like the software that came with my camera silkypix.

i would like to know what others think of faststone and if any of you recommend in purchasing adobe elements?

i havent used it but reading reviews it seems to please most begginers and £53 on amazon seems a reasonable price.

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Regards

Michael