Paint.NET is one of our favorite free image editors available for Windows.  While it does not have anywhere near the features of Adobe Photoshop, it does have many more features than Microsoft Paint.  So as a whole, we find it to be a very good (and very free) option for non-hardcore image editing.  Now there is an open-source program that seeks to mimic Paint.NET in appearance and features, while adding support for Mac OS X and Linux.

Creating a website is not too difficult.  Making it look nice, however, can be very time-consuming or expensive.  The default program for website design is Adobe Dreamweaver.  However, since that program costs hundreds of dollars, it is natural to look for a free alternative.  KompoZer is just that free, open-source option.

We have previously told about GIMP, the open-source alternative to Adobe Photoshop.  We even mentioned GIMPshop, which is GIMP skinned to look like Photoshop.  However, Mac OS X users might want to take a look at Seashore, which offers a number of advantages over GIMP for free image editing.

Twitter has been somewhat of a talking point lately.  It seems like you can send tweets from almost anything, anywhere.  For Windows Mobile users (like myself), the best Twitter client we have come across is Tiny Twitter.

While Mac OS X has a built-in Zip Utility to create and open .zip files, you will need something extra, such as StuffIt, to open other formats such as .rar, .sit et al.  However, the free version of StuffIt only opens those archives, and does not let you create your own.  That is where keka comes in.

Last year for Back to School, we told you about Schoolhouse, a very neat homework/grade manager.  This year, we found a new program called myHomework, which even has a mobile version for iPhone/iPod touch.  Now you can even manage your homework away from your computer.

IrfanView is a long-time favorite here in the JPT headquarters.  It is a simple, lightweight image editor that might not be particularly pretty to look at, but it’s like your mother always told you, “It’s what’s inside that counts.”  Inside IrfanView is a wealth of frequently used photo edits and tweaks, perfect for the 85% of people who can’t afford, don’t have, or don’t know how to use Adobe Photoshop.

Mac OS X users that have the latest version of Firefox are well aware that it has been a step backwards in terms of stability.  Those people looking for an alternative to Firefox should try Camino, a Mozilla browser designed specifically for Macs.

At work, I use a Windows machine and I frequently run into issues that wish I had TextWrangler for.  It did not take long for me to turn to Notepad++ to speed up my productivity.

Last time, when we explained Twitter, we mentioned two popular desktop applications for Twitter: TweetDeck and twhirl.  NatsuLion is a Twitter application made just for Mac OS X, and it has some advantages over the other two.