GIMP 2.6

Reviews say GIMP 2.6 -- GNU Image Manipulation Program -- is an excellent free alternative to Adobe Photoshop CS4 (*est. $665), with editing tools that include layers. Its price and capabilities are great, but it has two main drawbacks. It can be sluggish, and perhaps more important, difficult to learn to use. However, reviews of GIMP 2.6 say it's getting much easier to use. If you need a program as powerful as Adobe Photoshop CS4 but would rather get it free, GIMP 2.6 is an excellent choice. Beginners and intermediate users will find Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 (or Elements 6 for Mac) (*est. $80) much easier to learn to use.

GIMP is reviewed briefly at both Download.com and at PC World, but these two sites also provide a good amount of user feedback (though not all of it is for the latest version). The latest version of the program (GIMP 2.6) is also covered in an illustrated review at Brighthub.com. Because there are notable improvements in GIMP 2.6, a review of an older version of GIMP at PC Magazine is slightly less useful. A comparison test at Which? magazine (the U.K. equivalent to Consumer Reports in the U.S.) also covers an earlier version. About.com briefly reviews GIMP, but it's not clear which version is covered.