The widely acclaimed image editor Paint.NET has been updated to version 3.5 Beta 1.

The Windows application, developed using version 3.5 of the .net framework, was originally developed by a Microsoft-mentored student as a replacement for the basic Microsoft Paint application that ships with Windows. Since it's inception it has grown hugely in features to the extent that many now consider it a viable free alternative to applications such as Photoshop and The GIMP.

Paint.NET includes powerful features including layers, unlimited undo, numerous filters, magic wand, cloning and also offers a plugin architecture for third party extensibility.

The new 3.5 Beta 1 release - the first to require version 3.5 of the .net framework - adds a refreshed UI designed to look great on Windows Vista and Windows 7 Aero / Glass together with new filters, initial Windows 7 taskbar integration (recent items are listed in the jumplist), reduced memory usage and a host of fixes and updates.

If you are already a Paint.NET user you can download the updated release from within the application itself using the update feature, or the release can be downloaded directly from GetPaint.

Many people of course will be sceptical as to whether Paint.NET can genuinely offer a Photoshop alternative for $0 - are you already a satisfied user? Share your thoughts on the application in the comments!

Glow Doodle is a quirky drawing app that lets you draw with light, and you can try out if you've got a webcam. If you've ever taken a photograph of something moving and seen the streak effect, you'll get how it works. Open up the app, and get some kind of light source, like a cellphone, and move it around in the air. It will leave a trail, and you'll have a light drawing.

The controls for Glow Doodle are pretty simple: click to clear, s to save, and space to upload to the online collection of glowdoodles. Experiment with different objects to see what kind of results you get. The reflection from my glasses worked pretty well, and I imagine a shiny watch face would be pretty good, too. I didn't have a laser pointer on hand - I know, I'm such a bad geek - but I'd like to try different light colors and see how those work.

Using Psykopaint is as easy as uploading a photo and messing with some of the effects sliders on the side to adjust your brush. Don't worry that there's no way to pick colors, your brush will automatically grab them from your photo. There are sliders for both minimum and maximum, which makes your brush unpredictable and the result more organic. If you set a wide range for brush size, for example, each stroke could end up being a completely different width.

To see what some very serious Psykopainters have come up with, check out the site's gallery. There's some strange, beautiful, and spooky artwork there.

Psykopaint is currently free, but a premium desktop version is in the works.

Do you know those cool art spinning booths at festivals and carnivals? Of course you do, they're awesomesauce aren't they?

Well now thanks to CosmicPainter from garageCube you can bring that to your Mac OSX desktop, minus the carnies and smell of funnel cake (booooo).

CosmicPainter lets you make designs from different pre-set shapes and colors, as well as from other images you already have on your computer. You can really dig in with the shading and depth choices on the pallette and make some really rad shapes and designs.

Why would you want to use this? Because it's hella fun and free.

We sat in front of this thing for hours and got completely lost. But Chris Pirillo, the tipster who sent this in to us, warned us that we'd get sucked in...and we're pretty sure you will too.

[via chris pirillo]

CuBee takes the clutter out of your email inbox. It's a rich content email and messaging system which allows users to send out emails containing large files like video, pictures, animation, and notes.To add a little bit of Web 2.0 cuteness, messages can be sent inside a digital envelope with an emoticon to express feelings.

CuBee is integrated into ZCubes, a website where users can seamlessly browse, search, edit, paint, draw, watch, listen, print, network, work, and just about everything else you would care to do online.

Check out a demo of what ZCubes can do.

Maybe I'm strange, but my 3 year old son has his own computer. Now, it's not a fancy computer - in fact, it's one I was given for free when a friend finally upgraded. It's woefully slow and underpowered, even for many of today's websites. But it plays some older kids games (Windows 95 / 98 era) we were given just fine, and a few fun websites that are geared towards kids.

Recently my son has become enamored with a site that lets him paint, but it's painful to watch him struggle with the Flash interface, since the computer simply can't keep up. So when I heard about TuxPaint, I had to give it a try.

TuxPaint is an open-source painting program geared towards kids aged 3-12. It installs rather painlessly, and you can download an optional package of stamps (think of it like clip art, with associated sounds) or install it without them. On my son's computer, the program works very nicely, but the stamps are a bit slow. Drawing tools are quite snappy, and the newly added feature of stereo sound is really remarkable - as you paint on the screen, the sound that comes from the paint brush (or really anything you're using in TuxPaint) is mixed between the left and right speaker depending on how close you are to either side of the screen. When I read about stereo sound being a feature of a drawing program, I was skeptical, but this truly adds to the experience of using the program.

I also really appreciate that there is a control panel utility that allows you to simplify the user interface for younger users, or enable advanced features for older kids. This is a program that will grow with your children.

Other features introduced in version 0.9.16 include animated brushes that will effectively draw a critter following the cursor (leaving impressions as it goes), and brushes that can change shape depending on the direction they are moved, resulting in more natural looking strokes.

All in all, TuxPaint is a "must have" for any computer that is regularly used by children. It's free, full-featured, and fun. Oh, did I mention it's available for Windows (all versions), Mac OS X, and Linux (& even FreeBSD and NetBSD)?

I have been using Paint.net for a while now, and it really is a decent editor. Everyone who needs something more powerful than the Microsoft Paint that comes with Windows, but can't figure out Adobe Photoshop needs to take a look at Paint.net. The new alpha release (for testing only of course) has a multiple document interface, which is one of the biggest improvements in the new version. Though it is labeled Alpha, 3.0 is quite stable and usable. It now has common color palette and even a common colors panels too. The formerly slow font-loading problem has been smoothed out, and the fonts show up quickly now. Check it out!

Corel has released the new version of Paint Shop Pro Photo XI. New to this release is the organizer, which has Picasa-like search and organizational features; the photo color changer (which is self-explanatory); the time machine, which will set your pictures back and make them look as if they were taken in another era; the depth of field effect, making the background fade to draw more attention to the object of focus; skin-smoothing; film and filter effects, and a ton more. The new release is ready for you now and costs $59 to upgrade or $99 for the full version, in either download or boxed format. There is also a 30-day trial available with free registration and login.

The JavaScript Weblog, one of our fellow Weblogs Inc blogs, posted a report of an online Microsoft Paint clone done by a JavaScript coder, and hosted over at Google Pages. It is not an official Google application but given that that are getting into the Office Suite space with Google Spreadsheet and Writely, I would not be completely surprised if they do a Paint clone eventually.

[Via TheJavaScriptWeblog]