Thunderbird is, in my opinion, the best email client software available. It's free, it's open source, and it has add-ons for just about any customization you could want. It has a slew of options, and because it's open source, it's ad free. That means no leaving little advertisements on every email you send out. Thunderbird is compatible with all the lastest protocol technology.

  Mozilla Firefox is already one of the most internet browsers available. It is powerful, up-to-date, and it's popularity has ensured it's support across the globe. Because Firefox is open source, it's free, and it has numerous addons available for it. I recommend it as it appears to be compatible with more websites than Internet Explorer 8 is natively. Even our website is best viewed using Firefox. Plus if you're concerned about carrying over your favorites and settings from I.E., Firefox has import options to incorporate them!

  FileZilla is a free, open source FTP client. If you need to transfer files between you and a server, for such purposes as editing a webpage, or backing up data, there is no better File Transfer Protocol software than this. It has all the options you need, and an easy to use graphic interface. Be sure to take a look at their website for the latest version.

  Skype is a full featured VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) application. You can use it for IM, Video conferencing, and even making and recieving phone calls to and from anywhere in the world, and at a very low price. Many features like video conferencing are free, and even their phone service for the U.S. only costs $2.95/month (persuming you also paid the once annual cost of $30 for a phone number). With this service you get unlimited calling to the U.S. and Canada, and it includes Call Forwarding, Voicemail, Caller ID, and Multicall features at no additional charge. If your sick of paying qwest to much money for basic phone service, Skype may be something for you to look into.

  uTorrent is based on the industries first client software called BitTorrent. It's a small, but powerful application that can handle anything needed revolving torrent files.

  Ventrilo is free software that will connect you using the VOIP protocol on a vent server to anyone else who is connected to the same vent server. Both their client software, and server software is free to download. So you can set up your own vent server for you and your friends/family.