Casio Exilim EX-Z55 The Casio Exilim EX-Z55 is a very compact 5 megapixel point-and-shoot camera. It comes with 3x optical zoom and has great battery life. I did find that photo quality outdoors is a bit poor though.

Pentax Optio S5i The Pentax Optio S5i is a stylish ultra-compact camera with a 5 megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom. This camera takes good pictures but its extremely small size may be a problem for large hands. It also boasts a useful preset button for accessing your most frequently used feature.

Canon PowerShot SD20 The Canon PowerShot SD20 series comes in a variety of funky color (including midnight blue, garnet, zen gray and silver). Obviously targeted at young and hip, it boasts a 5 megapixel resolution and a full set of interesting camera options.

Kodak EasyShare DX7630 The Kodak EasyShare DX7630 boasts a 6.1 megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom. A generous 2.2 inch LCD screen and nice manual controls keep this high on sales charts.

Konica Minolta DiMAGE G600 One of highest resolution ultracompact cameras in this list, Konica Minolta DiMAGE G600 offers a 6.3 megapixel resolution and a 3x optical zoom. The start-up time is an amazing 1.3 seconds – very fast indeed, compared to other compact cameras. Interesting buy if you aren’t very much of a Canon or Sony fan.

Conclusion We’ve covered a lot of ultracompact cameras is above list. If you place me in a camera store, I’d probably pick Canon PowerShot S500 or Kodak EasyShare LS743 as my favorites. Your own mileage may vary, of course. Remember to do your homework before settling for a camera – understand your needs and expectations first, before shelling out cash. Happy shopping!

ImageForge ImageForge is a freeware image editor gives you a great set of tools for painting and editing images and photos. Whether you want to touch up your photo shots, or add a creative effect to a boring photo, ImageForge can provide you with tools to do it. You can even share your photos easily by creating photo albums and simple slide shows.

Paint.NET Paint.NET is an on-going project at Washington State University, with features that match commercial applications, including support for layers. It is provided as freeware and is readily available for download. Besides standard image editing features, there’s also a special Effects API for you to create your own special effects. The program also has a strong user forum that supports its progress and development.

Conclusion I hope you'll learnt a thing or two about best free photo editors for Windows. Using a free photo editor is a great way to save money, while satisfying all your photo manipulation needs. However, I do advise that for serious, long-term photo editing tasks, go for commercial grade software such as Ulead PhotoImpact 10 and Jasc Paint Shop Pro 9.