DOWNLOAD: THE KIDS STAY IN THE PICTURE

In the flurry of activity around Google last summer (something about an IPO), you might have missed the search firm's acquisition of a company called Picasa, whose eponymous software was the closest thing Windows users had to the slick photo-organization tool Apple-oids had in iPhoto. Last week Google rolled out a beefed-up version called Picasa 2.

Strengths include humongous space (it holds a quarter-million digital snapshots, enough to bore battalions of your friends) and oodles of editing features. You can fix underexposed or overlit shots with a one-click I'M FEELING LUCKY button or add special effects, including one that gives your photos an Ansel Adams feel. Best of all: it's free, at picasa.com.