On the left is the original image created on ye olde XP paint, on the right is what happens when I save it in W7 paint. Same thing happens if I copy part of a sprite and paste it.

Is there any way to get it to stay in accordance with the CC pallete, or am I forced to use another, better program?

Just use xp paint. It's a lot better.

GIMP is truly the best.

Downloaded XP paint and all is good. Much love.

That's presonal perferrence.
Like I enjoy grahicsgale and use that because I'm good at it.

GIMP does for free what GrahicsGale only unlocks if you buy the premium $25 version.
While free is not always better, the GIMP's functional quality is outstanding.

You don't need the premium stuff for CC spriting.
It's just if you want to save .gifs and icons.

Yup, and gif loading and creation is as least very useful for posting good examples of how interesting things in mods work. Not necessary, but very nice.
How good is GrahicsGale at terrain making?

I find it extremely good at it.
Scroll function for scrollign the image x pixels in a direction, making wrapped maps a lot easier to make.

Seeing as how we're sharing my modus operandai(or however the fack you spell that) is MS paint for standard sprites and gimp when you need a little extra(pause) flourish.

I swear by simple old paint. I've only used GIMP for transparency effects, such as the tube in the Dummy Factory or the glow over my dummy in my avatar.

I haven't ever touched Graphics Gale because I haven't found a reason to yet.