This is a running list of useful software, where to get it, what it does, where I heard about it, and the date I added it to the list (if it was added later). I'm pretty sure they're all free too.
del.icio.us/travis/software(rss) should have the most recent items in it.
"real browser" much better than crappy TNN (here)
Moox builds Grab a Moox build, they're noticeably faster than standard Firefox and Thunderbird (Sunbird coming soon, x64 on the distant horizon) (mozillazine) [2004-08-27]
DevEdge MultiBar small xul sidebar; the best CSS/DOM/XHTML/JS reference available [2004-08-27]
Extensions here're my favorites:
Omea Reader another RSS reader that I think slightly edges out RSSBandit (Jono) [2004-12-02]
RSSBandit nice interface, somewhat light-weight (Ern)
SharpReader streamlined interface, heavy-weight (Ern)
SpamBayes anti-spam software for Outlook (works just as good as Cloudmark!) (Ralph)
FileZilla freeware ftp app (Ralph)
VNC remotely connect to your computer
Messenger+ a must for MSN Messenger, just make sure you don't agree to the adware it tries to install
Thunderbird like Firefox, only for email
Winamp 5 for music
Media Player Classic for almost everything else, grab these too:
Audiograbber Rips CDs to WAVs [2004-06-09]
VLC media player Free, open source, cross-platform, region-free DVD player (Cyrus' Blather) [2004-07-13]
Notepad2 a better version of notepad, supports color-coding and other sweet features (Ern)
Hexsrc (and SourceEdit) a basic free hex editor
Resource Hacker Use this dll/exe editor for all kinds of windows things: renaming Start menu, removing AIM ads, and other leet stuff like that [2004-06-14]
see Web Developer Toolbar under Firefox above
see DevEdge MultiBar under Firefox above
Project Line Counter .NET counts all the lines of code in a project in VS.Net (wndtabs.com)
Spelly checks comment and code spelling in a project in VS.Net (wndtabs.com)
ASP.Net Version Switcher useful for switching between ASP.NET versions for different virtual directories etc.
Expresso run/create regex and generate .Net source (Ern)
JRuler screen pixel ruler (Ern)
Ruler this ruler app is almost better than Jruler (Scott Hanselman) [2004-09-08]
Pixie screen color tool (Ern)
TestDisk ever accidentally delete a partition? (cgsecurity.org)
Memtest86+ test your memory (msi forums)
prime95 check how fast your cpu can find prime numbers (msi forums)
CPU-Z Detects all kinds of info about your processor, mobo, and memory [2004-06-10]
Vitrite adds window transparency to your apps (Ralph)
XP Powertoys Microsoft's own Powertoys for XP including (see also these blogs):
CrawlPaper similar to the old WallpaperChanger powertoy, only much more powerful (momsbox.com)
BitTornado better client for BitTorrent (here)
KeePass a very safe way to store/generate passwords (tomshardware.com)
SmartBarXP cool sidebar like the one in longhorn, for XP (Ralph)
SlickRun (and Jot) a better replacement for Start > Run (Ern)
ProcessExplorer a better replacement for Task Manager (Ern)
Enabler tool to access c