old versions

i have a slow computer what was the first verion of photoshop that had layers

I think it was version 4 BUT you can only edit text layers in version 5

Photoshop Elements 2 is the earliest I know of, and the least resouce demanding,

Of course you could get GIMP2.2, which is almost as good, and free.

I like gimp 2.2 a little easier to use