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Thanks so much for this list.  I'm not a beginner, and even have my own list of "preferred modules", but I'm always on the lookout for better 'best practice' ways of doing stuff.  So seeing where my list and your list intersect is pretty good.

Some modules I always enable are:

• Global Redirect - Fixes the problems of duplicate paths for singular content.
• Image and Image_Assist - More "Drupalized" way of attaching images to content.  It inserts the image, and also creates a separate image node.
• Legal - Handles disclaimers, and forces users to acknowledge it before registering.
• jQuery Update - because some modules need it, and I like it. :)
• XML Sitemap - for SEO
• Hierarchical Select - This might be really good for beginners: it adds all that wonder "Wordpress-like" functionality of adding categories and selecting them to the Node-edit form.

My 2C.  I'm happy to learn of some other modules in your list!