Audacity

This is a really simple, bare bones, FREE multitracking program with solid editing features... I have it, sometimes its nice to do simple work in a simple environment. Its also not much of a CPU or RAM hog for slow systems.

I used to use this just for recording my vocals, as well as converting my .wav files to MP3. Recently, I learned about importing raw data, and I've been able to make some great glitch sounds, and even some sounds for noise music. Try it sometime if you're into those kind of sounds.

Started making extended DJ edits on this format. Still super reliable today.

A very handy tool for various purposes. One of the nice things is that it supports the VSTs that I use.

I've been using this a lot for doing samples, and recording vocals. Good results come out of it indeed! Best of all: Free

I use this to add a bit of compression and input all the information for my albums.

I know this is primarily a music website, but I feel the need to point out this software. I used to use it for recording my vocals, and then I would export them into Fruity Loops. However, now my vocals are recorded in Fruity Loops itself. However, I still find use in Audacity, just not for my music. I often use it for recording my lines when I do my voice acting, and adding various effects before I export it into Cool Edit Pro for editing. So, yes, this is very good for audio editing and recording, but not really that much else.

a great free music editing software for beginners.

It's great because it shows you the results of each change in the waveform.

For quick audio sampling and sample stretching, this little piece of freeware cannot be beat, you can easily add new plugins and it's factory defaults are pretty comprehensive. People who have used more comprehensive (read: expensive) software suites will think that it's cheap and useless, but this isn't directed toward professionals.