Freeware software you recommend !?

Audio editor: Audacity

Audacity, IrfanView, CCleaner Malwarebytes Antimalware, to name a few

Video Converter - Avidemux
Install Builder - Inno Setup
DOS emulator - D-Fend Reloaded
CD Image Creator - UltraISO
To PDF Converter - Bullzip PDF Pinter

and many listed above.

OS: Linux.
All other software - whatever's in your distro's repo.

Nobody said it yet: GameSave Manager for gamesave syncing and backup.

Some software I haven't seen here...
Programming in Java: Eclipse
Maintain mothers computer: TeamViewer 7
keeping minor software up-to-date: Secunia PSI

Audio/Video Converter: FormatFactory;
CD/DVD Burning Tool: CDBurnerXP.

Miranda IM/Pidgin - FooBar - MPC-HC - uTorrent - Rainmeter - CCleaner/Defraggler - Foxit Reader - CPU-Z/GPU-Z/Speccy - Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) - Dropbox - PDFCreator

Thats all I can remember. (No browser)

MusicBee, CCleaner, GameSave Manager, Media Player Classic, Maxathon, 7-zip, Libre Office, Daemon Tools, Raptr, Gimp, Skype.

Ubuntu 12.04 cos you can run steam beta on it easly ;)

http://www.essential-freebies.de/board/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=7266

Steam client

Define freeware. Do you mean freeware for personal use, freeware for personal and educational use or freeware for personal, educational and commercial use? Let's not go further with licences. I assume by freeware you you also mean open source software :-)

AVG for antivirus, advanced system care for maintenance

Antivirus: Avast Free or MSE (if Win 8 stay with built in Windows Defender)
And nothing else really.:D

I use the following:
GIMP (image editor)
blender (3D modeling
Microsoft Visual Studio Express (programming IDE)
audacity (sound editing)
irfranview (image viewer)
Libre Office (office suite)
Notepad++ (text editor / code coloring)
Zune (media player/organizer)

Audio player: AIMP. Similar to the good old WinAmp 2, with added features (but not bloatware as the newer WinAmp) and awesome sound quality. For me the best feature is the tabbed playlist window.

Search everything

File Menu Tools

In my humble opinion all registry cleaners, OS tweakers, configurator tools et cetera are completely useless and most possibly even malicious. And whatever you do, never install any codec packs. Other than that I would recommend Unlocker.

My list from another similar topic (sure i removed all non-free software):

Bulk Rename Utility
CoreTemp (cpu temperature monitor
CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva (clean junk files, defragmenter, file recovery)
CrystalDiskInfo, CrystalDiskMark (hard drive info and benchmark)
Duplicate Cleaner (find and remove file duplicates)
Everything (instant file search)
Fences (desktop organization)
Freemake Video Converter (video converter with dxva support)
iCopy (photocopy with printer + scanner)
K-Lite Codec Pack (audio + video codecs)
LockHunter (delete used/locked files)
Unlocker (delete used/locked files)
Soluto (accelerate pc startup)
SpeedFan (fan speed and temperature monitor)
TeamViewer (vnc/remote control)
TreeSize Free (visual organization of disk space)
Ninite (install multiple programs at once)
Connectify (transform pc wifi into router access point)
Paragon Backup & Recovery (hard drive backup and recovery)
EaseUS TODO Backup Free (backup/restore tools)
EaseUS Partition Master Free (partition tools)
Microsoft Security Essentials (antivirus)
CCEnhancer (CCleaner enhancer)
MSI Afterburner (GPU fan control, overclock)
Ditto (Clipboard manager)
Tiggit (Opensource Steam clone)

Linux

F.lux - Makes your screen a dim orange at night time so it doesnt strain your eyes.
puush - If you want to take a screenshot and cbf using editing software then uploading somewhere, it does it for you.

MSI Afterburner + HWiNFO64 for in game OSD with GPU/CPU temps usage etc. especially if you overclocking.