Software installed or to be installed on my LaptopComputer. Things that work!
Safe Hex
Trend Micro, [http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5 AVG] or [http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2004/7/10/163331/710 other] antivirus -- I've come to think that [http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2005/4/8/13247/63408 Norton is a virus], of sorts, itself.
ZoneAlarm or Kerio (or Tiny Personal) firewall -- a better choice than XP's builtin?
Ubiquitous Tools
[http://www.winzip.com/ WinZip] -- I've been a registered user since version 2.0
[http://www.cygwin.com/ Cygwin]
[http://www.petri.co.il/add_command_prompt_here_shortcut_to_windows_explorer.htm Command Prompt Here] -- Explorer context menu choice
[http://www.mozilla.org Firefox]
[http://www.mozilla.org Thunderbird]
Software Development
Ruby
[http://agilemaryland.org/moin/CodeProject_2fProjectInfrastructure Ruby on Rail environment]
Java
- Eclipse
- ...
Entertainment
Photos
- ? for albums, slideshows -- XP isn't terrible, itself.
[http://www.gimp.org/ The Gimp] ([http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/ for Windows]) for editing
Audio
[http://www.winamp.com/ Winamp] for audio/video playback
[http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/ CDex] for ripping MP3s
[http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Audacity] for recording and editing audio