An excellent article and guide that goes in-depth on the differences between shooting and post processing images in RAW vs. JPEG:

RAW vs JPEG (JPG) - The Ultimate Visual Guide


"This article is designed to teach you the differences between RAW and JPEG (JPG) from a pragmatic real world point of view. Thus, we will be using a lot of actual image examples to help show the exact concrete differences. In addition, we are going to leave out most of the technical mumbo jumbo that won’t really help you beyond being exceptionally proficient at speaking "nerd"."

Thanks for the link. :-) Two days ago I decided to edit the RAW file of a photo I had taken that was mono-coloured. I thought the RAW file would be too, but it was in full colour. I should have known... but it's a reminder of just what information is being stored there for future access. :-)

Well, whaddya know.. still free:

How To Process Camera Raw Without Paying for Adobe Photoshop - RawTherapee

iPhoto, which comes free with any mac, also processes RAW files, at least it takes RAW files from my Canon 5D with no problem.

I have Raw Therapee. I find it a bit complicated for my abilities!
IrfanView does a pretty good job with CR2 images from my Canon camera and RW2 from my Panasonic. I think perhaps many people who already have IrfanView are not aware it has this capability.

nice .....refer more Raw