Exactly why I recommended he/she try the free tryout version of Photoshop CS and Photoshop Elements...

Obviously there are many reasons for choosing Photoshop over... free... programs.... but it sounds like he just needs something that is the next notch up from MS Paint...

So, we have:

Photoshop CS
Photoshop 7
Photoshop Elements
Paintshop Pro
GIMP

any other good free programs? any other good programs $33 dollars or less?