Each year we pick a product based on a very simple basis:  Are we still using it after we first review it or stumble across it?  This year, we have a multi-split decision. And, in this time of hardship, we are happy to announce that all are FREE.


Kompozer  http://kompozer.net/
Komposer is a basic and fairly robust WYSIWYG web page authoring tool. My wife and I still keep going back to it, even though there are many other programs that offer more flash and sizzle. While it is capable (in the right hands) of producing very nice pages, it also works well for those of us who are primarily "word smiths" and are not overly concerned about animations, videos and pop up banners. Our highly successful multi media CD, "How To Use The Digital Camera You Just Bought" was completely designed by my wife using Kompozer, and then generated into the electronic guide that is found on the CD. Many thanks to the volunteers who keep making Kompozer better.


Irfanview www.irfanview.com
Irfanview is already world-famous and is covered in our photo area in an article about five free image editing programs. For those of you how have a basic understanding of Windows files and folders, Irfanview can help you sort out all those images on your camera cards, as well as minor editing.  Even if just used as a simple viewer, Irfanview is durable, reliable and can save you time. I make my students use it in my digital camera classes, as it can be easily installed on on Windows PC and is not linked to any brand of camera. A great and universal tool that deserves your attention.


Photofiltre (free) and Photofiltre Studio (29 Euros) are complete image retouching programs. Even the free version is very powerful and yet simple and intuitive to use. I use this program constantly and even have it (running under Windows emulation) on my Linux PC. The author is a graphic artist and has many wonderful filters to transform ordinary images into artistic exercises.  Here is one of his, from the Photofiltre gallery. Click on the image to visit the site.