What to download?

[Apex]

I'd suggest you to pay a visit at http://www.ninite.com
It contains all most common used programs that you might need after performing a clean installation (excluding drivers).

[NekoChan]

Windows Live Messenger
Opera
mIRC or xChat

[Ryuku]

Before installing any applications, I strongly recommend running updates first for your drivers and OS security.

This would include some of those which are not included in the standard service update i.e.

- DirectX
- Java SDK
- Adobe Flash web plugin
- Adobe AIR
- Adobe Shockwave
- Adobe PDF reader
- Your graphics card drivers

After that, I recommend JDownloader if you are a regular downloader.

[Elektrisk]

These are the programs that I make sure to download after a clean install:

• Windows Live Messenger
  
• Skype
  
• Launchy
  
• LightScreen
  
• VLC Media Player
  
• iTunes
  
• Google Chrome
  
• Pale Moon
  
• jDownloader
  
• Winrar
  
• TuneUp Utilities
  
• VirtualCloneDrive
  
• Unlocker
  
• Speccy
  
• Picasa
  
• Everything
  
• FoxIt PDF Reader
  
• Revo Uninstaller
  
• .. and more!

[Confidence]

What I use:

Chrome
WinRAR
Kaspersky PURE
BitTorrent
MSN

[The Anarchist]

Eh, the first thing that I would download is Rockmelt...

Amazing browser for Social networking.

[Mr. President]

Dropbox is good app if your going to be sharing a lot