Ares

Ares is a file sharing program that enables users to share any file including images, audio, video, software, documents, etc. Ares uses its own network and has very few fake files. It features a built-in audio/video player and filesharing chat rooms.

eMule

eMule is a P2P program which uses the ED2K, Source Exchange and Kad networks. It features checking files for corruption, complex Boolean searches, a built in IRC client, auto priorities and source management.

FileZilla

FileZilla is powerful FTP/SFTP client with many features. This tool can be used to browse FTP sites or upload files. It includes a site manager to store all your connection details and logins as well as an Explorer style interface that shows the local and remote folders and can be customized independently. The program offers support for firewalls and proxy connections as well as SSL and Kerberos GSS security. Additional features include keep alive, auto ascii/binary transfer, download queue, manual transfers, raw FTP commands and more.

Firefox

Firefox is an internet browser like Internet Explorer however it is considered to be safer and generally better. It comes with tabbed browsing and there are many extentions and themes to download so you can customize Firefox to your tastes. Extentions can really improve your web browsing experience so check the out at https://addons.mozilla.org/

Free Download Manager

Free Download Manager lets the user pause, resume, schedule and manage downloads. It can also accelerate the speed of downloads by 600% by splitting the files into several sections. Using the entire bandwidth of your internet connection it can quickly download from slow web sites using HTTP, HTTPS and FTP. This tool can continue the download even after it has been interrupted. It also warns the user if resuming is not supported by the servers and allows for ZIP file and audio/video preview. Free Download Manager can adjust traffic usage, has a powerful scheduler, site explorer, mirror finder and antivirus integration.

FrostWire

FrostWire is a peer-to-peer filesharing program which is just like LimeWire, but cooler (it's all blue!). It uses the Gnutella network.

HTTrack

HTTrack is a website copier and offline browser. This program allows the user to download whole websites to their computer for offline viewing. WinHTTrack can also update an existing downloaded site, and resume interrupted downloads. HTTrack is fully configurable by options and by filters (include/exclude).

Kquery

Kquery is a tool to search and find servers for popular games. Kquery can show the amount of players, rules, ping and maps of a server. Kquery supports Enemy Territory and its mods, Starseige Tribes, Warsow, Americas Army as well as many comercial games.

Miranda

Miranda IM is a minimalist instant-messenging program which supports numerous protocols such as MSN, AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, IRC and even Skype (if Skype is installed).

NetMeter

Opera

Opera is a fast and full-featured internet browser. It has tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, integrated searches, and other functions such as an e-mail program, RSS newsfeeds and IRC chat. It is also highly customizable.

Pidgin

Pidgin is a popular multi-platform instant messaging client that supports many commonly used instant messaging protocols, such as MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo, IRC etc. It features tabbed message windows for conversation management and spell checking.

RSSOwl

This is an RSS aggregator, basically meaning it downloads content from RSS feeds. It has heaps of advanced features, so if you're into RSS you should check it out.

Skype

Skype is a user-friendly "voice over IP" (VoIP) program which allows you to "call" other Skype members for free. Skype credit can be bought to call real phone numbers. Skype has many features of Instant Messenging programs such as profiles, chat and webcam support. Other features include the ability to have a conference call with up to four people for free, superior sound quality and more.

Soulseek

Soulseek is a music sharing peer-to-peer program which is great for finding independent underground and rare songs. Soulseek also have their own record label.

Thunderbird

Thunderbird is a full featured email program with built-in junk mail controls, message filters, address book, news groups and more. It offers a clean and easy to use (customizable) interface. Thunderbird also offers security features such as S/MIME, digital signing, message encryption, support for certificates and security devices. Other features include IMAP/POP compatibility, support for HTML mail, labels, quick search, return receipts, LDAP address completion, import tools and more.

uTorrent

uTorrent is a BitTorrent client for Windows. It has a tiny file size, yet manages to contain many vital features of larger BitTorrent clients. uTorrent takes up little system resources and has a clean and intuitive interface. It features global and per-torrent speed limiting a configurable bandwidth scheduler.

Wget

Wget is a website downloader. It is similar in purpose to HTTrack, but this program can be simpler to use, despite not having a graphical user interface. Being a free program originally not for Windows, it has been ported and adapted by different people, so if you prefer you can use a version with a GUI. Without a GUI, you'll have to run it from the command line.

X-Chat 2 (YChat)

This version of X-Chat is an unofficial build of the application for Windows. It is an IRC client. Although mIRC is more popular, it's not exactly free. This is probably the best option for a free IRC client for Windows, although Pidgin also has IRC support (as well as support for almost every instant messaging protocol).