Good picture editing software for Vista 64 bit

I want a good picture editing software to run under vista Home Premium 64 bit.

I was thinking about Adobe Photoshop Element 5.0 that, from the demo I've seen, looks magnitude of time better then version 3.0 that I had. The only problem is that there is only a patch to get it to work under Vista 32 bit and no 64 bit support at all.

I decided to write their support team to simply ask if a patch was in the making to support, or no, the 64-bit edition and if it was to be supported in version 6.0 otherwise. I ask for no timeframe, simply saying that I was ready to wait early-2008 to get their software simply because it looked like the best option for me. I mentionned already using Nero 7 which is enough for now but is still too limited for bigger project.

Their answer was basicly something like: "we don't comment on upcoming product, just watch for any possible announcement about it if it's ever gonna happen". So basicly, go get the competition product.

Can anybody here suggest me a good picture-editing software that's comparable to Photoshop Element 5.0 on price, feature and quality aspect? Or is there a 64-bit version in the making?

Thanks for your time.