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Those first few days are really fun. You've taken the new laptop out of it's box. It smells new, looks new. Your new $500 baby. You turn it on, waiting for it's first boot, it's first time launching Windows 7, and then it hits you. What can you do with it. All it has is basically a web browser and maybe a trial version of Microsoft Office. What do you install, what do you download? This may help.
First of all, get rid of Internet Explorer, at least until Internet Explorer 9 comes out. I recommend Google Chrome, a different, faster, and easier web browser, you can get it at google.com/chrome.
If you own an iPod or iPad, iTunes is a must-have, even if you don't have an iPod, just to organize your music and videos , iTunes is my favorite, get it here at apple.com/itunes.
You'll probably need a word processor, and if you don't plan on spending at least $150 on Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org is a great free alternative, it includes a word processor, a presentation maker, a spreadsheet creator, and more. It is available as a free download at openoffice.org.A antivirus is very important, and although your PC probably came with a free trial antivirus, you probably want to uninstall that and either buy an antivirus, or, although it won't work quite as well, install a free one. I personally use Microsoft Security Essentials. Available at .microsoft.com/security_essentials, this free antivirus should work fine for your needs.
Windows Live Essentials is also a good free set of software. It includes an IM (instant messenger) app, a movie make, a photo gallery app, a blogging app, and more. Available at explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials. Note: many of the Windows Live Essentials reguire a free Windows Live ID, available at http://explore.live.com/.
If you havn't already, you should look into getting a free Google Account, (available at this link and click on, on the right hand side in the middle, create an account.) which gives you access to Gmail, Google Docs, and much more, some of which might replace actual software.You probably will have to get some more software, some of which you will have to pay for, but to get started this is a good list of some free software to get you going.
UPDATE: I got a comment from Riley Quinn recommending ninite.com, which will install almost all of this software and more in one download. You just choose which software to install and click Get Installer. Thanks Riley.