100 Essential Downloads for Windows: Page 8

Photo/Graphics Tools

60. Adobe Photoshop

The ultimate photo editor, Photoshop includes all of the fancy filters and features professional photographers and graphic designers need. The extended version (available for $999) also includes 3D support. Price: $649.

61. Paint Shop Pro

This full-featured photo editor is frequently compared to Adobe Photoshop; but it costs a lot less. The latest version includes an organizer, color change tool, depth of field effect, tutorials, and more. Price: $99 (30-day free trial).

62. Picasa

Part of the Google Pack, Picasa makes it easy to organize your photos and share them over the Internet. It also allows some basic editing, such as cropping, removing red eye, adjusting brightness, etc. Price: $99 (30-day free trial).

63. Irfanview

While this graphics viewer is small and somewhat barebones, it gets high ratings from users. It doesn't bog you down with a lot of editing features you don't need when all you really want to do is look at pictures or graphics. Price: Free.

64. Adobe Creative Suite

For graphics professionals and really serious amateurs, the Adobe Creative Suite packs all the graphics tools you'll ever need into one pricey package. The included programs vary depending on which version you buy, but most include Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, and Flash. Price: $999 and up.

Productivity Suites

65. Ashampoo Office

This alternative to Microsoft Office includes TextMaker, a Word-compatible word processor, and PlanMaker, an Excel-compatible spreadsheet application. It doesn't offer as many features as its Microsoft counterpart, but it costs a lot less. Price: $69.99 (40-day free trial).

66. Open Office

It doesn't have quite as many features as Microsoft Office, but you sure can't beat the Open Office price. The open source spreadsheet, word processor, database, presentation software, and other apps are all completely compatible with Microsoft file formats and are available in multiple languages. Price: Free.

67. PortableApps.com Suite

This suite takes all the PC tools you use on a regular day and squeezes them down so they fit on a 256MB USB drive or other portable device. It includes a web browser, email client, office suite, calendar/scheduler, instant messaging client, antivirus protection, backup utility, and most importantly, sudoku. Price: Free.

68. Microsoft Office

Still the standard for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and more, Microsoft Office offers more features than any of its competitors. Several different packages are available; the standard version includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Price: $399 and up (60-day free trial).