One answer is to use a raw-based management program such as Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture (the latter is for MacOS only.) These are able to read raw files on-the-fly and display them in a catalog view so you can evaluate and select your best shots. They also include tools for adjusting the cropping, exposure and color balance of raw images, either one at a time or in groups.
The idea behind these programs is that you can quickly look through all your images, choose the most promising, apply a quick batch correction to them to get them 'in the ballpark,' then spend more time finessing the adjustments of the best ones. The logic of it is a lot like Picasa, except that it works with raw files.
If you've got an image that needs pixel-level retouching, localized correction, advanced distortion control, etc., you'll still need to move it into a pixel editor such as Adobe Photoshop.
One way these raw-management applications are UNlike Picasa is that they're pretty pricey: standard price for either one is about US$300, although there's currently an intro price for Lightroom that's $100 less. Worth noting in case you ever get an R-D 1 is that Lightroom will work with R-D 1 raw files, while Aperture doesn't recognize them in stock form - you can do some minor hacking that will get it to see them, but the results are still sub-optimal IMO.
If you don't want to spend quite that much money, you can use some type of batch raw-to-JPEG converter (such as one you'll probably find on your camera's software disc) to convert your raw files to JPEG and then use Picasa to manage them. You'll need to archive the raw files as well as the JPEG files so that if you've got a super-nice image that you want to print large or enhance, you can go back to the original raw file to get the best possible quality. Having to keep track of two matching sets of files, raw and JPEG, made me decide it's worth spending the money for a raw image management program, but that's an individual decision that depends on your preferences and budget.
