SOFTWARE

Antivirus

Avast AntiVirus - www.avast.com Antivirus software for Windows. Free for home users. Look under Products -> Desktop Protection -> Home Edition
Clam AV - www.clamav.net Open Source toolkit for Unix or Linux
ClamWin - www.clamwin.com ClamAV with a graphical interface for Windows users. This software does not conduct active scanning but works great when manually run or scheduled to run at certain times and days.

E-Mail & Web (Internet) Browser

I highly recommend the below software instead of using Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook. You will be better protected and less prone to viruses and spyware when surfing the Internet. The majority of users use what comes installed on their computers therefore malicious programmers aim viruses and other harm towards the software used by the majority. The majority of the world uses Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. Unless noted, all software listed below operate on Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

Firefox - www.mozilla.com Excellent web browser by Mozilla
Thunderbird - www.mozilla.com/thunderbird An excellent e-mail client which can replace Microsoft Outlook Express, also by Mozilla
SeaMonkey - www.seamonkey-project.org A web browser with an e-mail client built in, also by Mozilla. This can replace your Microsoft Outlook e-mail client.
Safari - www.apple.com/safari/ The fastest and slickest looking web browser from them all from Apple. If you already own a Mac then most likely you are running Safari for your web browser.
Evolution - www.projects.gnome.org/evolution/ An Open Source e-mail client which includes e-mail (of course), address book, and a calendar. Currently only available for Linux Gnome desktops.
Sunbird - www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird/ If you are looking for a separate calendar package then this one is good.
Lightning - www.mozillamessaging.com/thunderbird/ This add-on for Thunderbird allows you to add a calendar to your Thunderbird e-mail client.