Have you ever wondered what could be the things you’d require to get your PC up and running after a fresh installation of Windows. There’s perpetual list of software that meet your daily and future computing requirements. Well, I have compiled a list of a few software products to make it easy for you. I personally advocate open-sourcing, so I have also had a mention of open-source alternatives that are great.
The most essential software that you need are: 
1. An office suite (MS Office 2003/2007/10 or OpenOffice [Open source])
2. Media players (VLC [Open source])
3. Web-browsers (Mozilla Firefox [Open source], Google Chrome)
4. File compressor/de-compressor (7-Zip [Open source], WinZip, WinRar)
5. PDF reader (Adobe Reader, Sumatra PDF [Open source])
6. Flash and browser plugins for internet applications and video (Adobe: AIR, Flash Player, Shockwave Player)
7. Photo editing/organizing (List in external site)
8. Disc burners (InfraRecorder [Open source], CDBurnerXP, Nero Burning ROM)
9. Peer-to-peer file-sharing: Ares [Open source], µTorrent
10. Anti-malwares to clean-up and protect your PC from security threats. Various products are the in the online market place. Generally, a good premium anti-virus product comes bundled with a lots of features including anti-virus, anti-spyware, online protection, and firewall, some of the big names I know are listed below:
Anti-virus: AVG, Avast, Avira, ESET NOD32/Smart Security, McAfee, Norton.
Anti-spyware: Spybot- Search & Destroy!, Malwarebytes
Firewall: List in external site
11. System maintenance/optimization: CCleaner, Advanced SystemCare.
I personally employ the following to protect my system so that I can have peace in dealing with my own computations (..whew)!
AVG Internet Security 2011, Spybot-S&D, CCleaner, Advanced SystemCare Pro
Now enjoy your freshly installed Windows. Apart from the top 10 basic requirements, you may need more software for meeting up your requirements. The list is unceasing, as I said.
Note:
1. It is highly recommended that only one anti-virus and firewall solution is used in a system, as they use similar system resources and may lead to system crash and/or malfunctioning otherwise.
2. There is no harm in bundling them with one or two additional anti-spyware solutions.
3. Kindly read consumer reviews in different forums before you purchase. The above are my personal views and experiences.
4. Buy Original and Genuine products from genuine web stores.
5. The open-source software products mentioned above are simply decent, and will meet most of your requirements.
