Google Pack

Includes Firefox, Skype, Picasa, StarOffice (Microsoft Office compatible but free) and many of the best apps on this page. Plus it keeps them up to date, so it's better than downloading them all separately.

Trillian

A powerhouse of an IM client. Supports AOL IM, MSN, ICQ, and Yahoo as well as voice chats, file transfers and more.
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Pidgin

Connect to multiple IM accounts simultaneously in a single app, including: AOL IM, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, Jabber, and Google Talk. 100% free and open source.
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Yahoo Widgets

An army of cool, tiny applications at your fingertips. Such as: weather, alarm clock, todo lists, notepads, games, dictionaries and more. Very handy
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uTorrent

A simple, fast Bittorrent client that will download your files without slowing down your computer.
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Limewire

The world's most popular search and download filesharing program. Works great for music and video.
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Soulseek

The community-based filesharing client. Still one of the best ways to find rare music online.
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Media Coder

Great tool for ripping CDs, DVDs, etc and converting between tons of video formats.
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Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP)

Lets you play almost every major video format inside Windows Media Player (or many other video players). Also includes an ad-free alternative to Quicktime.
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Real Alternative Lite

A lightweight, ad-free version of RealPlayer.
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OpenOffice.org

Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with--and a free replacement for--Microsoft Office. A souped up version, Star Office, comes free with Google Pack.
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Picasa

The best photo album for Windows. Lets you share photos too.

iTunes

The best music player for Windows. Rip and burn CDs and download podcasts too.
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SmartFTP

A popular FTP program for Windows.
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Filezilla

Excellent FTP program. 100% free and open source.
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mIRC

The most popular Windows IRC client.
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Opera

A fast web browser packed with great features. Some people swear by it.
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Ubuntu Linux

Sick of endless spyware and viruses? If Windows is a hassle, Ubuntu may be your way out. Try it without installing anything-- just pop in the CD and restart your computer.
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