Even if you've never been in the same ZIP code as a UNIX-based PC, you may have heard some of the buzz surrounding the GIMP. If you haven't, here's the scoop in a very small nutshell: the GIMP (which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, by the way) is a free image editor. While early versions of the GIMP left much to be desired, not the least of which was the fact that it ran solely on various flavors of UNIX, the GIMP has matured into—dare I say—a viable alternative to Photoshop. Even better, the GIMP has been ported to other operating systems, Mac OS X included. Even more betterer, did I mention that it's free? So in these times of economic strife, when it may be hard to scrape up even an extra $99 to get yourself a copy of Photoshop Elements, taking the time and the bit of elbow grease necessary to get the GIMP up and functioning on OS X may be well worth the effort.

Well, this is probably the end of the line, at least for now. As of this morning, and barring a rather large reversal by Macromedia in the near future, I will no longer look to Director as my primary interactive authoring application of choice. This is indeed a sad day for me, as I recently just marked my tenth anniversary working with Director. Why have I been forced to take such a drastic step? Why am I cutting my losses and looking elsewhere? Because, sadly, I can no longer afford to pony up and pay the Director Mac tax.