What Software for converting RAW pictures?

It's very clever to shoot to RAW image format. It takes much more space on card but the potential is much higher. It's because there is much more information in RAW (5.5MB - Canon EOS 300D) compare to JPEG (2.5MB).
Because we can not work with RAW pictures directly we need to transform them into some common image format (TIFF, jpeg, HDR, etc.).
I found RawShooter Essentials 2006 the best solution for me. It's powerful and has almost all I need. And it's free. 

• What do I really like: Simplicity, Speed (it's very FAST), Highlights/Shadows clipping, Comparison of various image corrections, 16bit TIFF output. 
  
• And what I'm missing: Levels and Curves, Crop tool, Picture Rotation.
  

Other software options is e.g. Canon DPP raw converter or some commercial programs like Adobe Lightroom ($299).