Easy way to find the right software?

["Thomas Schultz" <thomas.schultz@nrc.ca>]

I am new to Debian and Linux and I am currently running Debian parallel to
my Windows partition to see if it is worth the switch.

The main problem I encountered so far, is to identify the right programs to
use for any given application. There are so many packages out there - and it
seems there is an infinite number of ways to do a given task - that it is
just way too slow and inefficient to go through all of them. It would be
great to have a place recommending applications which are stable and easy to
use - sorted by application type. Or even better, a site which has a rating
system for widely used applications.

This would make the transition much easier for lazy windows users like
myself. And maybe it would help me identify the uncounted number of
applications that I managed to install already, most of which are silently
sleeping on my harddrive.

-- or maybe all of this exists already, and I was just too lazy to find it??
In that case, please help a poor soul and point me to the right place.

Cheers,
Thomas