I used only 2 programs doing Brazil map and Philippines first release:
1) Paint
2) A small free tile maker, called "Harm Stile". Size under 1 Mb.
As you can see, Im getting "milk from the stone", as we say here in Brazil.
Edit: Because of this I become really angry with some low quality maps send to lack, huh, freakshow?
Seriously, I work very hard to make my maps decent using almost no tools, its the reason why Im always wanting the better here.