free Microsoft software - Paint .NET

[SmartWombat]

Interesting tool, this.
http://www.getpaint.net/

It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it.

[GB1]

Have you tried it? Will keep it in mind the next time someone here pops in asking for recommendations on free photo editors (I usually mention Gimp to them).

[SmartWombat]

It doesn't have any good colour temperature adjustments, but supports layers, masking, it's a basic editing program that's worth more than you pay for it
I still would use Photoshop Elements, or PaintShop Pro X myself as a basic editor.

[n8]

I've used it for quite a while before getting a bit more serious and dabbling in photoshop. Considering it's free, I'd say it's a good rival for a lot of commercial stuff.