I’m running Win95, and I’ve got 15 icons: Network Neighborhood, My Computer, Recycle Bin, AOL IM, Netscape Communicator, MS Internet Explorer, 2 icons for Agent (each “pointed” at different newsgroup servers), Paint Shop Pro, MS Word, Winamp, AudioGalaxy, Notepad, MS-DOS prompt, and Windows Explorer.
Win XP Pro - 0 icons
In addition I have 3 on the quick launch bar - IE, Windows Explorer, and Winamp. Only one visible icon in the tray - Trillian.
I have Win98.
I have 4 icons.
My Computer
My Documents
Internet Explorer
Recycle Bin
(in that order from the top)
Win XP. 1 icon. Recycle Bin.
Oh, to follow Natural-J-Bankie’s lead. No quick-launch bar. 1 icon visible in the system tray. Zone Alarm.
22
Aerosmith
Desktop aliases
Documents
Homework
Laura
Logs
lyrics
other pictures
rasp1.gif
Tilery
TroyMcClureSF’s Buddies
WaMu alias
CD covers
jjtm
Video
Buddy Icons
Aerosmith Bootlegs
FileTyper
Trash
Macintosh HD
Downloads and sits
Photos
Unfortunately, I save things to the desktop so they will be easy to find later, and it really stacks up after awhile (plus I haven’t weeded through them lately). Currently there are 40 icons on my desktop.
Win Xp - one icon on desktop, recycle bin. Ten icons on Quick Launch bar. I take the programs I use most frequently that would normally be on the desktop and stick them on the QL. I like looking at my wallpaper, not icons.
I’m on Mac OS X. I have no icons on the desktop, 15 icons in the Dock (Finder, IE, Entourage, AIM, MSN Messenger, Word, Quicken, Final Draft, Watson, Terminal, iTunes, Home folder, Applications, Documents, Trash).
Kirk
Using MacOS X. Fourteen icons on my desktop. One is a folder called “CRAP” that I swept all my previous icons in. 
I’ll never be organized.
Other icons on my desktop, with explanations:
coneflower.jpg: Picture of a flower that encompasses the Fibonacci numbers. Also a very beautiful picture.
dime.jpg: Picture a friend sent me of an oddly-damaged dime.
Gismu List.cwk: A list of vocabulary words in Lojban
EV Nova 1.0.0: Escape Velocity Nova, a kick-ass game I just downloaded a few days ago.
EVNova1-1.0.0.sit: The compressed version of that game, and a file I should have thrown out by now, taking up 75MB of my computer space…
Levi: This is my hard drive, named after, well, me.
parade.jpg: Funny picture from last year’s Winter Carnival Parade. The theme was trains, because of the railroad they recently got running after decades of non-use. Well, just check it out for yourself. => http://www.freewebz.com/levi/parade.jpg
Picture 1: Accidentally pressed the “take a picture of the screen” hotkeys while playing a computer game.
Picture 2: Did it again.
Picture 3: And again.
Picture 4: Once more.
script.png: Image of the writing system for my conlang.
I’m at work, Windows NT. 47 desktop icons plus 9 in the system tray.
WinXP
2 Desktop recycle bin and my computer
37 in the quick launch bar (most i use on a daily basis…errr weekly basis…eerrrrr shut up i like to have them handy)
7 icons in the tray: avg (antivirus),zonealarm,creativelabssoundthingymabob,network connection icon,trillian,audiogalaxy and tweakxp
dead0man
(Hangs head in shame)
I use maybe 5 with any regularity.
This is the ugly side of a 19" monitor.
Windows XP Pro
No icons and no quicklaunch
System tray bare too.
Mmm… haiku!
FTR, I open all my programs through the run key. It’s much faster than clicking on silly icons.
Windows 98 SE, and I keep the icons to two columns on my 17" monitor. Any more, and I start weeding.
In order: Artemis (aka My Computer), The Hood (aka Network Neighborhood), Recycle bin, AIM (which I rarely use), Digital Audio Center, Easy CD Creator, Excel, Windows Explorer (I changed the icon so it looks like the town portal from Diablo), Front Page, ICQ, IE, L View Pro, Lord of Destruction, mIRC, Norton, NoteWorthy, Palm Desktop, Quicken, Planescape: Torment, Windoctor, a file program, and Word. There’s also a couple of random things I’ve temporarily saved for my roommate. Other than that, nothing but the Rock staring at me from a Scorpion King promo still.
My mother, on the other hand, is still running 95 (I think) and is fanatical about nothing being on her desktop – last I checked, only My Computer in the corner. Not even a nifty background. Go figure.
Ahhhh, a soulmate 
I have 123 on the desktop… among them:
All Sorts of Crap
Misc. Garbage
Shortcuts I DO Use (“Shortcuts I Don’t Use” is in the ‘All Sorts of Crap’ folder)
A shortcut to “More Misc. Stuff”
A shortcut to “Other Stuff”
Add to those gems a Quick Launch bar with 30 items on it, 13 items currently in Systray, and an Office Bar with, uhm, 35 items on it.
I really need help. :o
Mike
Win XP.
My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, Recycle Bin, Internet Explorer, a shortcut link to my Earthlink DSL connection, OfficeJet Manager, a folder containing Progress Quest :D, AIM, LiveJournal, Morpheus, Palm Desktop, PowerTools, and WINAMP.
Mac OS 9. Four at the moment.
My hard drive (Squidgey 4)
A folder, “Apartments” (I’m apartment hunting)
A folder, “Stuff” (various clippings, downloads of the day)
And my Trash can, which is showing stuff is in it.
Win XP Pro - 1 icon. Recyle bin
Windows… Windows… dagnabbit, I forgot hangs head in shame
Lessee, 27 icons. A respectable amount.
The usual stuff (My Computer, My Documents, etc.), my file (Touch And You Die, meant to keep out my kid sister. I don’t think it’s working…), Snood (oh shuttup), Netmeeting, Daliworld, AIM, etc. etc. etc. Mostly folders or programs, no free documents (they’re all neatly [sub]more or less[/sub] filed away).