What would you say is the best video editing software for a Windows based machine?

Adobe Premier (Elements version) is inexpensive and has a good range of features.

Windows Movie Maker does a lot of the basic stuff and is free.
I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum, which I bought for around $90 on amazon.com. It seems to do about everything I want.

Gotta agree with se_ven, Windows Movie Maker is free and is surprisingly good. Its capabilities have never held me back from doing anything that I’ve wanted to do (although I haven’t attempted anything really advanced).

movie maker is a pile of shit.

Sony Vegas is very good, and you can get anything for free if you know where to look PM me.

I agree with the folks who said that, if you want free software, go with Windows Movie Maker. However, if you wanna buy something, I would agree with Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere. Also, to add effects to your videos, you can use Adobe After Effects.

For me Windows Movie maker goes OK.