For WIN 95, 98, and NT 4.0 or later, you won't find better value than Picture Window 2.0, probably the best-conceived, feature-rich, inexpensive, digital imaging software on the market. It is the creation of Jonathan Sachs, an avid photographer and developer of the original Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet program. It seems everyone who tries it feels compelled to write words of praise to Sachs' company, Digital Light & Color (DL-C).

If you've done some serious photography (and even if you haven't), you'll feel very comfortable with Picture Window. The program lets you see progressive changes you've made side by side with previous images, and you can go back to any prior image and move forward from there...which gives you lots of room to experiment. At DL-C's web site you can see what this electronic darkroom can do; afterwards you'll never again crave owning a view camera or a pricey PC (perspective control) lens because one of this program's tricks is straightening out skewed buildings in a flash.

The price is only $39.95 for the CD ROM version which includes many additional goodies like slide viewers, various calculators, information on digital photo techniques, and an excellent calibration scale so you can get a good match between what's on the screen and how it will print out. It also has a detailed, comprehensive, online manual that explains everything and is actually a joy to read! Incidentally, there's also a Version 2.1 that will run on WIN 3.1...but with somewhat fewer features.