Own a Laptop or Desktop ?

If you bought a branded laptop or desktop then it probably came with many unwanted trail programs pre-installed. You should first remove those pre-installed trial versions. To do this you need
PC Decrapifier which Will help in detecting and removing all those unwanted trial progams which came pre-installed with your laptop. 

You must also be having an internet connection and would be browsing the web quite often. I would suggest you use Firefox. Firefox is slightly better than internet explorer. But dont forget to install addons and thirdparty software to Firefox. I shall list a few below which I know you would find useful.

delicious to save the addresses of all your favorite websites.

Iterasi To permanently archive your favorite web pages.

Speed dial Direct access to your webpages.

WOT To warn you of risky websites.

PDF download To manipulate PDF files online.

Keepass To manage your passwords securely.

Down them all A download manager.

My full list of favourite Addons for Firefox.
As far as Emails are concerned create at least two email accounts I recommend Gmail.comas primary email address to share with your friends and family. For others use the secondary email address.

The trial version of Microsoft Office on your computer will usually expire and if you are looking for a free office suite I suggest Open Office it has all the basic feature you would need in an Office suite.

Sometimes you will get files that will not open on your computer. Just pay a visit tozamzar.com and convert the file into some simple formats which your computer can open.

After a lot of installing and uninstalling your computer may contain too many programs that you rarely use. Install Revo Uninstaller to get rid of such programs.

To free additional space on the hard drive by finding the files which occupy large space, useWinDirStat

The Virus threat is one which everyone fears and it is quite difficult for a beginner to understand the difference between various anti virus softwares. I would recommend you to read and download a Good Anti Virus here

For most of your common needs you can read a list of Quality Free Softwares that I use and make the most out of it. Enjoy your Laptop / Desktop and make the most out of it.