I would like to store some bitcoins on a software wallet. But it seems like there are quite a few of these and new ones coming up all of the time.
For a newcomer like me can someone suggest which are the most popular?
When I was new to Bitcoin I have chosen Multibit. It has a very welcoming GUI and it's not hard to use. It's also very easy to secure. So I would suggest you a Multibit.
Later I had to change for Electrum since the have offered first the support for Trezor and even today Electrum looks kind of cold to me. Very simplistic.