7. Video Playing—PowerDVD or VLC. Windows 7 comes with DVD-playing capability in Windows Media Player, but this doesn't support Blu-ray, as well as certain other video and disc formats. If you're serious about video consumption, get PowerDVD. It's a full featured player with all all the support (including 3D Blu-ray and MKV) and controls you could ask for. It even lets you use your smartphone as a remote, and can actually improve picture quality with its TrueTheater technology.

The free option here is VLC Media Player, which, despite its lack of a price tag, can play any of those video file formats you're likely to download—just don't expect 3D Blu-ray playback.

8. Video ChattingSkype. Even for voice-only chatting, Skype usually gets me better sound quality than an international cellphone call, but being able to see a far-flung loved one in real time is priceless. There are other options, such as Oovoo and Paltalk, but Skype is the most popular, and it's available on all platforms mobile and tablet as well as desktop and laptop computers, so the chances of your video-chat partner being able to run the software are better than with other options. Skype also has some of the best codecs for voice and video compression, making clearing sound and vision possible, though of course, nothing can overcome a bad internet connection.

9. Instant Messaging—Digsby or AIM. Plenty of people still do text chatting using AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), and Digsby not only handles AIM chat with aplomb, but can connect with accounts in all of the leading chat services. It lets you sort your buddy list by most frequent conversations, can hide into the side of your screen when you're not using it, and can also pop up notifications when you receive new emails or social network posts. So beyond simple instant messaging, Digsby offers a wealth of communication options. If your user is of the AIM persuasion, you may simply want to install AOL's newly revamped client, which has the side benefit of letting you Again, beware of the AIM installer trying to load sidecar apps and toolbars, which you should uncheck during installation to saver your user from unnecessary slowdowns these could impose.