Hey,
1. Goldwave is not free, it costs $42.00:
http://www.goldwave.com/gwregister.html#table
2. Cool Edit and Sound Forge do the same thing, they edit audio files. The advantage Cool Edit has over Sound Forge is that it comes with a multitrack editor...you won't be able to record and mix your beats with your MC in Sound Forge as it is only a two-track editor.
3. Sonic Foundry had to sell themselves as the company was slowly going under due to bad business management during the dot com thing a few years ago. You will notice that ALL the major players have 'sold out' during the past year: Emagic to Apple, Syntrillium to Adobe, Sonic Foundry to Sony, Steinberg to Pinnacle, and Cakewalk are partnering with Roland.
Take care
Nick