The key to getting the most out of your computer is solid, reliable software. When people I knew bought new PCs, or when I ran PC-based IT departments, I would always point them to the Google pack of applications, a set of applications (mostly from Google itself) that are solid and useful, but not complete. For example, there is no paint program, no compression program, no powerful encryption, advanced text editor, or file transfer programs.

I usually had to download these as separate programs from the web. Now I found that a group has put together my favorites of these (Dia/Gimp/Tux Paint, 7zip, TrueCrypt, Notepad2, FileZilla/WinSCP) along with some other interesting programs:

OpenDisc | Programs.

You download an ISO image (which is a byte for byte copy of a CD) then burn that onto a CD (follow the somewhat skimpy instructions here).

This is an easy way to introduce relative novices to open-source software because there is an introduction and explanaiton of each application. And, there are games.