Essential Apps to Install on Windows and macOS

[ccccn]

What about Linux, seriously.

If TechSpot can do one of these type articles for Linux that would be really awesome.

 

[ccccn]

I like Revo Uninstaller but may look into the other mentioned ones. I also prefer "Opera" browser and sometimes use "Brave". I like ESET's online scanner a lot.

 

[Julio Franco]

Always surprised to see Soda Stereo here...

One of the best rock bands ever, the godfathers of Latin rock... of course they belong here.

 

[Julio Franco]

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

We've removed links to it in the latest revision... and you're right.
I personally wrote this a few months back:

Antivirus bloatware may be killing your (not so old) Windows PC

It's a scene most tech enthusiasts will recognize all too well. You're visiting a less tech-savvy friend or relative, the conversation barely underway before the request comes:...

www.techspot.com

BTW, the previous link was not an endorsement either... we do recommend Malwarebytes, Emsisoft and VirusTotal. Then for the traditional AVs we said:

We're not big fans of installing antivirus software on every system, and we're not fully up to date on which ones currently perform best. That said, AV Test has a long track record of regularly evaluating top antivirus solutions, so we recommend checking their latest reports. The current list of top-rated antivirus suites includes options like BitDefender and ESET, among others, many of which offer free versions you can try.

 

[guillejp]

One of the best rock bands ever, the godfathers of Latin rock... of course they belong here.

Siempre hay un argentino en todos lados!

 

[jdrch]

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.

Firefox literally has a separately developed browser engine, which is incredibly expensive to develop (this is why all "alternative" browsers are Firefox or Chromium forks). When you figure out how pay $250K/year software developers for free let the rest of us know.

 

[jdrch]

Some other tools to consider:

P2P Sync: Resilio Sync, Syncthing

Image viewing: IrfanView x64 + Plugins

PWAs: PWAsforFirefox

Pi-hole: Pi-hole client

Bookmarks management: Raindrop.io

SSH & Remote session management: Windows Terminal Preview, MobaXterm, Remote Desktop Manager

Task management: Todoist

PDF & ebook viewing: SumatraPDF x64

 

[Logic11]

Moved to Linux (Mint)
It just works, free, fast with no TPM2, login And no adware/spyware BS.

I'd 'get with the program' if I were you.

 

[MonicaPython2]

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.

yeah, CherryTree is really a well done program and I also prefer it.

 

[SpacemanSam]

You left out an important category: privacy and debloating! One program that's highly recommended is O&O Shutup 10++. This program allows you to selectively choose which Micro$oft bloat and telemetry to remove, and even includes the ability to undo your removals should you discover that you've removed something you shouldn't have.

Zoicware has a similar program on Github, but it doesn't offer nearly as much granularity of choice.

And speaking of Zoicware, he also has RemoveWindowsAI on Github. This program does a rather thorough job of stripping out almost all of M$'s intrusive AI junk, including Cortana, CoPilot, Recall and others, and it includes a "revert" function to undo the changes if you want.

 

[bclaymiles]

Firefox literally has a separately developed browser engine, which is incredibly expensive to develop (this is why all "alternative" browsers are Firefox or Chromium forks). When you figure out how pay $250K/year software developers for free let the rest of us know.

Weird comment. I tend to go by reality. If Google/Alphabet decides that the half-billion they pay to Mozilla to be the default search engine isn't generating enough revenue to cover the half-billion+profit, then their primary source of cash to pay the developers will vanish. Donations won't cover the difference. I said nothing about not wanting Goog/Alpha to pay the half billion - I'm fine with it, since I prefer Firefox (though LibreWolf is a great alternative). Monocultures are never good, I want FF to stay around as long as possible (a little advertising on their part might help stem the bleeding of the userbase).

Worth noting, average software engineer's salary in California is $154K, not likely to be higher anywhere else, but of course mean/median/standard deviation would be the most informative values. So, $250K is quite generous.

 

[abactuon]

System Monitoring

Quick CPU
nvidiaProfileInspector

 

[MusicPhotoITgeek]

Everyone has their favs, as far as playing audio files I've stuck with WinAmp since it's inception and frankly would be lost without it. As a Deadhead since 1967, when I began collecting the bands live gigs WinAmp was manditory as the early gigs were in shn format before flac was around, and WinAmp was the only Go-To audio player. So far.... I have over 3,000 gigs to trip to whenever I want.... Music Is My Mistress

 

[GeoffreyA]

MPC-HC, number one for video playback.

 

[MagratG]

After being a die-hard Picasa image viewer fan, since it first came out, I've recently switched to 'Nomacs'. Everything Picasa was plus more.

 

[Art C]

If you have Windows, your only "essential" is a switch to Linux.

 

[jdrch]

Here are my recommendations:

Web Browsing: if you're a power user, Firefox Nightly x64 is undefeated. It has a built-in Split View too

Password Management: KeePass. KeePassXC doesn't support plug-ins and is missing a lot of functionality. Plus with KeePass you can roll your own cloud-free backend

Power Utilities: Windows Snipping Tool has all the functionality I need

Office and Creative Productivity: If you want a job, use Microsoft Office. Every employer uses Word. Use PDF Arranger instead of PDFsam, which went freemium

Basic AI Tools and Assistants: M365 Premium gives you access to Anthropic and OpenAI frontier models for $50/y (in addition to your existing M365 subscription). It's the best AI deal no one talks about.

VPNs: The only thing a VPN is guaranteed to accomplish is send all your browsing data to a single entity. You can achieve similar privacy by self-hosting your own recursive DNS resolver using unbound

File Management: SpaceSniffer is dead. TreeSize has the best UI by far. Check out OneCommander for a fantastic File Explorer alternative that uses Miller columns.

Other Good Stuff: Sumatra PDF for PDF, ebook, and comic files

 

[TheJAMF]

Will there be a server version of this? Like: OpnSense and Canary (by Thinkst), Immich, HomeAssistant, Navidrome, Jellyfin, etc.

I suppose one could run a few of these on a desktop too.

 

[Biostud]

Nextdns for effective ad block etc.

 

[Inthenstus]

Better Monitor and Stars on MacOS are great toos for system monitoring, fan control, and unlocking the true potential of your LED panel. I’ve been using it for a few does now and it’s been a serious game changer.

 

[mogo2k]

I'd add Aida64 and 7z to the list.