I tbh love elementary os and i cant wait for freya to be released as stable, so back in the topic now
I prefer using linux mint over ubuntu tbh ubuntu never gave me the same performance linux mint did espesially linux lint xfce its blazing fast as for apps i usually install the following:
Geany
Google chrome
Trimage
Sublime text 3
Simplescreenrecorder
I prefer Ubuntu but that is just how I am.
Like everyone said before:
Filezilla
Chrome
GIMP ( I love gimp I even use this on Windows it's my favorite image editor)