Essential Apps to Install on Windows and macOS

[Julio Franco]

Just unboxed a new computer? Here's our curated list of essential Windows and macOS apps for productivity, security, entertainment, and everything you need to get up and running.

Read the full article here.

Essential Apps to Install on Windows and macOS

 

[mountains]

Good article. You got a lot of the big ones.

I would include CherryTree. It's an open source hierarchical note taking application. It is great for organizing your info in a familiar tree-like manner. Lots of customization to how it looks and behaves. There are several programs that do similar, but after trying many, this is "the one".

I did not see a recommendation for non-cloud local full system rotating backup. I am curious what people would like now, either pay, free or open source. Macrium switched to a subscription service last I heard so many left them. But I have not searched for an alt in a few months.

 

[RudyBob]

Just an article on "stuff I use"

 

[m4a4]

• Free PDF editor: PDFsam

I don't know what you're trying to imply by "editor" (considering where it is in the list), but PDFsam is not for viewing and editing PDF's in the traditional sense...

 

[Macar]

Thank you for this article ! I will try some apps !

 

[adambtoth]

Wow! Such a good set of softwares. There were some new to me. Thanks!

 

[Liranan]

Portable Apps is the best piece of software for Windows, it has a massive library of important tools that do not need to be installed, thus can be reused as is over many OS installations.

Kaspersky was and still is the best antivirus.

 

[Vrmithrax]

I was amazed at how much I came to rely on Fences from Stardock. Being able to throw together and easily resize (and even hide) infinite desktop windows on the fly got me hooked. No more messy desktop with chaotic icons all over the place.

 

[ThomasTECH]

This is an interesting list. I can't say I use any of these though...?

 

[BadThad]

Some good stuff in there! I'm a HUGE fan of Brave browser, it's the best one I've used in 30 years. Not flawless, but if you need to you can just open the offending URL in Chrome. WELL WORTH the speed and privacy with the benefit of nuking ads.

 

[bclaymiles]

Re firefox, where it says "It's not only independent from Chromium [...]"

Well, yes and no. The engine is definitely not chromium. However, firefox's very existence depends on the half a billion dollars or so that Google pays Mozilla Corporation each year to have Google as the default search engine.

If that goes away, firefox will become an orphan.

 

[wiyosaya]

Everything. Cumbersome to use for some searches, but unbelievably fast. It will make you think you've done a dir *whaever*.*whatever* in DOS. It makes Windows search look like your PC is run with Molasses.

 

[Athlonite69]

Vivaldi, VLC (for Audio), MPC-HC (for Video), PeaZip and last but not least qBittorrent for all of those weird Linux ISO's

 

[ComputerDave]

If they're recommending Avast as software to be taken seriously, I seriously doubt their judgment.

 

[Draconian]

"Conversely, if you're an Android user, AirDroid is a comprehensive tool to manage your Android device wirelessly: send files, notifications, and SMS from your desktop."

There's also Microsoft Phone Link, which works with both Android and iOS.

 

[seeprime]

What about Linux, seriously.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Upnote for notes.

 

[adaplect]

Long time LastPass user, decided to give ProtonPASS a chance and I liked it a lot!

 

[Thatsdisgusting]

You can add TreeSize to the list of volume browsers.

And give hwinfo that first place - props to Martin and his good work

 

[BarryG]

The essential Windows app I use is AlomWare Toolbox. An absolute beast for what you can do with it! The automation possibilities are incredible.

 

[guillejp]

Always surprised to see Soda Stereo here...

 

[AnilD]

Long time LastPass user, decided to give ProtonPASS a chance and I liked it a lot!

I'm on the same boat here, I just moved from Lastpass to 1Password after a decade or more and it's so much better, more polished UX, etc.

 

[systech00]

Excellent article!

 

[Ben Myers]

Thorough article. Thank you for all the software downloads. Will try some I hadn'tseen before.

 

[PierreJG]

I am very picky when it comes to apps. I am going to switch over to Linux when I eventually can afford a proper NVME as this one is 256gb and crap... I moved away from any app from Microsoft as they force you to use their crap how they want to. MS thought it is a good Idea to enable purge when changing folders on IMAP accounts after every update...

Anydesk is the only program I won't recommend when you have a small business. Anydesk change it to, you have 20min remote connection then you dc and have to relog in. If you use anydesk to many times, you get an ad for 20sec that goes up to 200sec x2 later. When you have a small business as myself you cannot just go out and buy everything. The way they did it to try and force you to buy their software was the wrong move as I use rust remote desktop and never had any problems. Hell even MS teams is better even though I hate it.