Photoshop Rival GIMP Releases Major Update
GIMP 2.4 is the latest iteration of a landmark open-source project that began more than a decade ago, as developers banded together to build an open-source alternative to powerful graphical editing software like Adobe's Photoshop. Released as GIMP 1.0 in June 1998, the software has since gained a reputation as one of the open-source world's most polished desktop applications.
GIMP 2.4 features a new icon theme designed to meld aesthetically with a range of desktop operating systems, including an array of Linux distributions as well as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Other enhancements include a host of new tools and tweaks for working with digital photos, streamlined menus, and improved color management, printing and cropping functionality. The software is available for download on the GIMP Web site.
Still in the works for GIMP: a major UI redesign (currently in the collaborative brainstorming stage) aimed at alleviating GIMP's most often whinged-about pain point. On the flip side, GIMP's biggest selling point? Photoshop list price: $649. GIMP: free.