What are your "to-go" softwares on Windows ?

Ryo-Ohki

Ryo-Ohki

New member
Since I'm reinstalling my computers and making the switch to Windows 10 I'm also doing a lil bit of house cleaning. I like my systems to run lean and clean so the less stuff I install, the better, and having reviewed my actual needs vs. what I used to install systematically, here's what I've come down to :

- Browser : Firefox (proud user since it was called Phoenix, circa '03?)
- "fat" email client : Thunderbird since I have close to twenty years of email in Mozilla mailbox format :)
- Video Player : VLC (haven't launched Media Player in... possibly a decade? I could probably remove the feature in Windows)
- Music Player : Foobar 2000
- Text editing : Notepad++ (I use intensively at work but @home I could probably go without it)
- Image viewer : IrFanView
- Compressed File Manager : 7-Zip

I've also installed Adobe Reader DC since I have a bunch of PDFs lying around I need to access from time to time, and for the odd time I have to type something, I've switched to LibreOffice.

Pretty happy with the integrated Windows Defender... So it's staying.

Discuss, I guess ? :)
 
FYI there's a nice website that has quick links to the most popular free software out there. You click the checkboxes next to each app, then the website (www.ninite.com) builds a single EXE to install every app you selected. It will automatically pick the ad/bloatware-free installers if available. Once you download the EXE, you can run it again later to grab & install the latest versions of the same apps. Great for quick updates.
 
Most people seem to like using VLC. To me, it's a player of last resort. It's useful because it seems like it can run anything so if all else fails I try VLC. But other than that, I really don't like using it.

When I was on Windows, I liked to use PotPlayer.

Foobar and Notepad++ are programs I've always installed.

Firefox is something I hate to have to use. Vivaldi is the better browser.

For image editing I liked Paint.NET.

Everything Search for search.

OBS for a screen recorder.

Audacity for audio editing.

FreeFileSync for syncing files.

HoneyView for an image viewer.

HWiNFO for hardware viewer

SteamMover is nice to have.
 
Thanks for the feedback so far :)

Ninite looks handy.

If I have one grip with Firefox Quantum as it is now, is that the interface to set it up can get a bit confusing (I found the older one more straightforward). Also I find it an issue that some settings can only be configured going through about:config (like stop closing the browser when closing the last open tab, didn't find another way to do it).
But it's fast, open, and is not based off Chromium so it gets my vote (and my yearly donations) :)

Oh yeah I forgot about Paint.NET ! Great little utility.

At one time I was running multiple media players... VLC is maybe not the prettiest but it got in since it was the video engine behind adslTV, I got curious and found myself using it more and more. As it did what I needed it to do, and did it well, it finally stuck as the remaining one.

I used to run FileZilla as FTP client at a time when I was managing a small website, but it fell into disuse for me as I transferred the website to someone else.
 
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Pretty much the essentials, leaving out regular apps like adobe office:

video player-VLC
audio player-Media Monkey
screen rec-OBS
zip-winrar
library-calibre
sync-goodsync
filehash-HashTab
equalizer-APO/Peace
image viewer-Fast Stone
antivirus/firewall-Comodo ISP
remote desktop-NoMachine
ftp-Filezilla
ssh-Putty
iso-Rufus&Etcher
videoenc-Handbrake
audioenc-EAC/qaac64
browser-firefox
BDdecryption-DVDFab Passkey
tagging-MP3Tag
naming-Bulk Rename Utility
vsphere client
chat-pidgin/openfire
network-nmap
text-notepad++
 
Irfanview - great for batch image processing
Picasa 3.9 - the best image library software (sadly now defunct)
qbittorrent - mouse drivers and keyboard overclocking
avidemux - quick and dirty video conversion / compression
notepadd++ - coding and websites
Fraps - screenshots for games
windirtstat - visual representation of HDD storage
hwinfo 64, cpu-z, gpu-z, diskinfo - basic pc info programs
Filezilla - hacking the FBI mainframe via FTP
VLC - watching mouse drivers I have downloaded
WinRAR - for all my zip and rar needs
Firefox - manches
Personal finances pro - budget
musicbee - music player, still not sure I like it more than WMP
icoFX - making and modifying icons
MyTile - making win10 start menu far less ugly
 
MS Onedrive
and
Keepass2 with it's database on onedrive so all computers and phones can access and update.
DirOpus file management.
Everything from Void Tools - Local filesystem search
 
I'd like to add two great pieces of software for astronomy nerds, Stellarium and Celestia.

For those who don't know and might be interested,

Stellarium works as an hour-based, location-based observable star chart with ephemeris for lots of natural and artificial objects. It can also predict Iridium flashes which is kinda cool !

Celestia is a 3D simulator of the universe. I love browsing the object library and from there see how constellations are twisted depending on the star you're getting close to. One passage in the last book of the Foundation series got me hooked to this little game ;) There are also trajectories for Cassini & Huygens (depending on the date you select you can witness how the probes entered Titan and Saturn atmosphere...), MIR, the ISS, and there's also a huge collection of custom objects made by the community you can add. Want to add the USS Defiant orbiting the moon ? No problem ;)
 
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