Open Source is the way to go

I have run into a lot of issues in the past that call for certain programs with features to create the proper solution. Open source programs always seem to be the best, be it something as simple as a browser, or a feature rich coding program. The advantages of open source programs is that users are always developing add-ons to solve problems that everyone runs into. Open source users are people that need flexibility and solutions, now. Web designers need so many tools to create perfect pages that you would never make any money if you had to purchase all the programs need, or would create crappy pages if we only used big business web design programs.

Browsers
Every one knows that Mozilla has been kicking out descent browsers for a while, but the sheer volume of plug-ins available for Firefox makes it worthwhile to keep on your desktop. Plug-ins like FireBug and SEOQuake are essential tools for web designers and fit right into your Firefox workflow. Opera is possibly the best browser on the market, as far as browser functionality. With Opera's plug-ins you can do most anything any other browser can do at twice the speed.

Editors
I am a Mac guy and I love Coda and CSSEdit, but I often work on a PC and recently discovered PSPad. Whether you are a web designer or a web developer, PSPad has all the features you need. PSPad can read and highlight any language and has built-in tools for syntax and validation. If you don't know exactly what the proper way to phrase a command, just start typing and PSPad will give you all your options. I dislike PCs, but PSPad make web design much easier when I am away from my Mac.

Photoshop is the workhorse of web design, but comes at a hefty price, so try GimpShop. Gimp is a great open source company that has so many user generated plug-ins that it has surpassed many photo editors in functionality and customization.

CMS
It seems every client, these days, wants some form of content management system. Not long ago a decent content management system would cost some serious cash, but not anymore. With open source programs like Joomla, Mambo, and WordPress, web designers don't need to fill their brains with complex coding languages anymore. Most open source content management systems are simple, plug-and-play with CSS design manipulation. Web sites like OpenSourceCMS are great places to go discuss and discover content management systems. With the popularity of CMS, the number of plug-ins continues to grow every day.

Open source programs and web apps are the future of the web and will always be more functional. Customization to your workflow is always one of the most important features a program can offer. Stop loading your system up with $20,000 worth of programs that you only use a few of the features, and start using programs that you can make do what you want. I stated a while back that I dislike WYSIWIG web design programs because I don't want "what you see is what you get", which is BS when you test a site in multiple browsers, I rather "what you see is what you want". I am the same when it comes to programs and web apps, I want programs that do exactly what I want, and if they don't I can get a plug-in that will.