I like simple and inexpensive. My favorite choice of editor that falls into both categories is easy to use and free: Netscape. (This site was made with the Netscape editor.) Netscape has two HTML editors you can download from the Netscape site. The editors come with Netscape Navigator as part of the browser. This is how it breaks down:

If you are running a Mac, use Communicator.
If you use Windows 95 or 98, use Communicator.
If you use Windows 3.1 use Navigator Gold.

You can download the latest versions of Netscape Communicator for Mac or Windows from this site:

http://home.netscape.com/download/prodinfonfs_1.html

If you need or want the earlier versions of Netscape go to:

ftp://archive:oldies@archive.netscape.com/archive/index.html

The latest version of Netscape is Communicator 4.5. Any version of Communicator will do, however. The best version of Navigator Gold is version 3.04.

If you choose not to use the Netscape editor to compose your pages, several other options are available to you. Several other editors exist that also produce excellent web pages. Here is a link to a large list of HTML editors:

WWW FAQ: HTML editors
http://www.boutell.com/faq/oldfaq/htedit.htm

Below is a list of some of the I editors have tried, starting with free editors and moving on to commercially available editors (also, you may want to check out this site as it has most of the software you'll ever need to make a web page for Macintosh, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, and OS/2 Warp --  http://anasazi.lib.utk.edu/ ):

AOLpress
http://www.aolpress.com/

Kudos to AOL for this excellent editor. In preparing for this page I found a reference to this editor on CERN's website (this is the group responsible for starting the World Wide Web . . . their page is worth browsing: http://www.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html - click on the link called "where the Web was born" for a description of the beginnings of the WWW.). AOL's editor is available free for both Mac and PC. It features a workbook style tutorial to teach the functions of the editor and the processes of putting together a web page. You can use the workbook to edit and try features of the program while you are learning. This editor has the ability to produce forms and frames, and the AOL Press web site has links for more help and tutorials.

Microsoft FrontPage Express

If you have a copy of Windows 98 on your machine and you still have the installation CD, you can install FrontPage express, which is an HTML editor based on the Microsoft product FrontPage. One of the nice features of FrontPage, including FrontPage Express, are the templates. Templates are premade blank web pages with color schemes, graphics, and fonts already set up so that you only need to fill in text to complete a page. 

To install FrontPage, insert the Windows 98 CD into your machine. A screen should come up automatically. Click on Add Software. 

(NOTE: If the screen does not come up by itself, do this: Click the Start button and select Settings. When the Control Panel opens, double click the Add / Remove Programs icon. Click the Windows tab at the top of the window. The rest of the instructions are the same.) 

Select Internet Tools and click the Details button. Click the check box next to FrontPage Express and click OK. Click OK again and FrontPage Express should install.

If you no longer have the Windows 98 CD, you can download this lite version of FrontPage. Click your Start button and select Update. When you get to Microsoft's page, click the link to Updates. The program will download and install on your computer right from Microsoft's page.

Web Warrior
http://www.bact.wisc.edu/WebWarriorDL.html

I only just downloaded this one and haven't given it much of a chance. This is a tag editor for the Mac. It's the only one I found that was free and easily available. Since I normally do all my pages on a PC, I haven't really given this one a good try. From what little I have seen, it looks good. It features a table of commands that you may edit to include tags and commands that you use frequently. It has drop down menus for inserting tags into your developing web page.

HTML Writer
http://www.lib.utk.edu/PCarchive/IBMtype/Html/
http://lal.cs.byu.edu/htmlwrit/oldhtmlwrit.html
http://gopher.hku.hk/cc/document/htmlwrit.html
ftp://members.aol.com/Bottger/HTMLRITE/HW9B4ALL.ZIP 

This is a nice, basic editor. It features pull down menus that allow you to select the HTML tags you want to insert into your document. It's a small program that runs easily in any version of Windows, and it makes learning HTML easy. This is a shareware program that you may use for free. If you really like and find yourself using it a lot, the author asks for $10. The program is available for download from the sites above . . . you will need a program to unzip the file, which is also available through a link on the page. (See the comments about unzipping files below.)

SiteAid
http://www.siteaid.com/

Another nice editor, which I have only just become familiar with. This one has more features than HTML Writer. With this editor you can also insert code for image maps and frames. This editor is totally free. You need to be running Windows 95 or 98 to use it. It's available form the site above . . . you will need a program to unzip the file. (See the comments about unzipping files below.)

Adobe PageMill 
http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/pagemill/main.html

This is a very nice editor that has many features beyond the capabilities of what's available in Netscape. It will make pages with frames and allows a view of all the pages on your site. You can download a copy from the site linked above or purchase a copy in any computer software store. It costs about $100. It is a good program and works in Windows and on Macintosh.

Microsoft FrontPage
http://www.microsoft.com/products/prodref/571_ov.htm (Windows)
http://www.microsoft.com/products/prodref/437_ov.htm (Mac)

FrontPage is available for Mac or Windows. It is a rather complicated program with a great many features. It allows for whole site management as well as creation of complex pages. It features wizards that allow you to choose from ready made templates that allow consistent colors, fonts, and graphics across a site with many pages. It's available for download from Microsoft, or you can buy it in any software store. It costs about $150.

DreamWeaver
http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/

DreamWeaver is another high end editor much like FrontPage and PageMill. It claims to be more of a professional development tool that supports online commerce in addition to the other features offered in both FrontPage and PageMill. It can be downloaded from their website, linked above. It Costs about $300.

The commercially available editors are much like the Netscape editor that I have recommended. They usually offer more features and allow a greater ease of use for managing large web sites. The free editors require one to be more familiar with the HTML that goes on behind the scenes. These editors have menus where you can select and insert the codes, or tags, into a web document. In the long run, I find that I use both types of editors to trouble shoot my pages and to add special features. Learning basic HTML is not really difficult, and being able to read the code allows you to borrow from the pages you like on the internet. If you learn HTML, you can make a page from any word processing program.

Unzipping Files

Often, when you download a file from the internet, it comes to your computer in a compressed form. This saves time when transmitting files, and it saves space on the network computers. Several utility programs are available to decompress downloaded files. Go to the pages below for some good programs you can use to unzip files that you download.

If you use a IBM style PC, go here - http://www.winzip.com/

Winzip is a good decompression utility for Windows. 

If you are using a Mac, go here - http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/index.html#mac

Actually, the Mac decompression utility will work for PC's too, including DOS.