What are the capabilities of your PC? I don't care what they say about the minimum requirements on the software, you need at least 1G of RAM. You also need a firewire input on your computer. Forget USB 2.0 For the camcorder, you need a DV output. You also need a DV to IEEE1394 cable to attach the DV output of the camera to the firewire input of the computer.
For software, there's Ulead or Adobe Premier(the best), Roxio...you pick.