I wanted to pass this on -- it's still active as of this morning.
http://dealnews.com/Capture-One-Express-6-for-PC-downloads-for-free/768783.html
Installation is a bit higher impact, mostly I think from installing Bonjour from Apple, and it does require .NET 4, & not the smaller client version in win7, which means a .NET 4 download, somewhat lengthy install, & then a bunch of updates from Microsoft that also take a while.
Info on Bonjour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour_%28software%29
OK, what is this free software?... You get a license for Capture One Express version 6 -- current is v. 7, & as you'd guess, the Express version is feature limited compared to the pro, which costs 3 times as much.
It is not editing software in the sense of Photoshop or PaintShop Pro or most of the editing apps you're likely familiar with. It is designed to process raw format images from a higher priced camera, though it works with regular image files just fine. And it focuses on adjusting &/or improving those images with a tool set I think you'll like, many presented in a different way than similar tools in other editing apps. And it's designed for batch processing too. It isn't the easiest image editing app I've ever seen, but it's designed for creative types more than computer geeks so it isn't too bad, & there seems quite a few tutorials available.
I apologize for the delayed notice on this offer... Because of the .NET 4 requirement I had to check it out in my win7 32 VM. Because of fooling with getting the win8.1 Prev. VM up & running, I was delayed in clearing out that win7 32 VM so I could restore it & give Capture One a look see. Clearing out that VM also took a bit longer because I had to finish the work I was doing with the Howler GOTD from the other day -- actually I just moved it to my win7 64 VM to play with it further, but needed to fool with the Visual Basic stuff, making sure Howler had version 5 available, but that that win7 VM used v. 6 for everything else... there's no getting around the fact that normal installation replaces some VB 6 registry entries with v.5, I don't want that, & so I've got to see if it works well enough this way before checking it out further to decide if it's a buy or forget about it sort of thing.