Forum Moderators: not2easy
The good news is that the rockin' free, open-source unix/linux image editor, Gimp, is now available for Windows. I haven't tried the new Windows version, but I did see it offered at download site while I was looking for something else. Gimp's rendering engine is every bit as fine as Adobe Photoshop, and is at least as feature-rich as PaintShop Pro or FireWorks.
There are also various free image editors at the freeware/shareware sites all over the web. Many are one-trick ponies, but if you collect enough of these applications, collectively they should at the very least get the basic tasks done for you.
Hope these suggestions work for you.
Cheers,
Kat