Photoshop elements 4

[Furry Sparks]

I just got it for my birthday, i know its not the newest versoin, but i have some questions:

• How good is it compaired to GIMP 2?
• I found the Drop shadow layer style, is there anyway to use it as a filter?
• Where can i get brushes?
• Good tutorials?
• Could i upgrade it with This?

and thats about it...