Just bought my first MacBook (Advice for a Noob)

I bought a 13 inch MBA (upgraded to 8 Gb Ram)

I have read the beginners guide already (the jist of it) but I have some questions:

1. How do I delete multiple applications(icons) simultaneously? Must I drag and drop each one to the trash individually? I'm not talking about "fully deleting an app" btw.

2. What applications/programs do you guys recommend right off the bat to download?

Thanks.