I used to work in the photo development industry and Canon cameras are one of the best you can buy.
The lenses are fantastic (they use glass instead of plastic so can get much thinner).
I used to have a Canon 3.2 megapixel camera and my photos were so superior to many other people's, even if they had around 6mp!
In fact many people don't know how to use their cameras and set their megapixels so low so they can get hundreds and hundreds of pictures.
I used to develop a good few thousand pictures a day and it was so sad that most of the pictures were terrible. The graining was noticeable, the settings all wrong.
Always take time to play with your camera, find the settings that work. Simple stuff like turning the flash off when inside and making sure you either hold the camera completely still or place it on a flat surface when taking your photo will result in a good picture. Think about the composition - ie: Divide the picture into three, don't zoom in too far or you'll get camera shake and fuzziness.
If I could afford a new camera I'd go straight for a Canon.