What is the best free package? I don't really want to pay for photoshop as I wont use it that much but and my trial is up. Is there a good free package which allows you to create transparent GIF's and decent-ish logos?

Thanks

Paint.net comes to mind.
Inkscape is free an can do awesome vector graphics.

But u should really pay for Photoshop if ur even remotely serious. there's nutting like it.

Also u can check out some Torrent sites for full cracked versions of PS if ur feeling stingy.

gimp for windows

fireworks is like photoshop (and cheaper) if you're doing web graphics and is generally better for web graphics imo than ps.

if you're thinking of seriously doing logos as a business then illustrator

GIMP is probably your best choice like dave said. You can do a lot with it and it should take care of everything you mentioned.

As has already been said give Gimp a go.

Not only is it very versatile but there is plenty of free add ons, scripts, brushes etc. and lots of good tutorials available.