When PSP8 was released last year it was a big improvement on earlier versions. Lens distortion correction, perspectice correction, background eraser tool, one step photo fix all very useful features. From 8 to 9 there are a few more changes but they are minor improvements by comparison. PSP 8 is a bargain IMO. Almost as good as Photo Shop and that costs £600.
If you want something free then try Gimp which is open source software.
What is PSPEXE? Usually if you click the help > about on the pull down it will tell you waht version you have.