I have a hard time buying that as I am unaware of any professionals that use Paintshop Pro. The point is moot anyway since it's really not the tools that make the artist. And, of course, in the end the majority of photoediting programs are basically the same anyway. I use Photoshop for work related things because it is the industry standard, no way around that unfortunately. For my own stuff I use Corel Photopaint, which I find to be more intuitive and less ungainly than PS.
What it comes down to is that a filter is a filter regardless of the program and when it's as obvious as that I think it's too much. The way you used the texture in the first batch is much better I think. It's still a filter, but it's subtle enough that it enhances the feeling you're going for without taking away from the line-art.