My Top 50 Windows Apps πŸ–₯

Published by Alicia's Notes πŸš€, View original

Open Source Apps on Microsoft Windows

This is my personal reference list of useful software for Microsoft Windows.
Typically I only install what I need, and uninstall software that hasn't been used for a while. Where possible I prefer to run containerized or portable apps. There's nothing installed on my system that isn't on this list.

Before setting anything up, the first task is to disable telemetry, remove pre-installed bloatware and make a few security tweaks. For this I use a series of PowerShell scripts provided by Privacy.Sexy.

Items marked with '❌' are not fully open source, and 'πŸ’²' indicates either not free, or has premium tier

Networking

  • Tor Browser - For more anonymous browsing + access to the Tor network Git
  • VirtualBox - x86, AMD64, and Intel64 virtual machines Git
  • WinSCP - SFTP client and remote access file manager GitHub
  • qBittorrent - BitTorrent client GitHub
  • WireShark - Packet analyzer GitHub
  • Angry IP Scanner - Quickly find IPs within a range, open ports and other info GitHub
  • NetLimiter - βŒπŸ’² Network traffic monitoring tool with simple firewall functionality
  • Universal Radio Hacker - SDR client for investigating wireless protocols GitHub

General Apps

  • HWiNFO64 - ❌ System info and diagnostics
  • Process Hacker - Monitor system resources and analyse currently running processes GitHub
  • Etcher - For flashing ISOs onto USB drives with a overly-fancy UI GitHub
  • ExifCleaner - Tool to easily remove metadata from images and media GitHub
  • X410 - βŒπŸ’² Fork of X.org to run Linux GUI apps in Xfce via WSL
  • LinPhone - VOIP client for making/ receiving phone calls and SMS messages Git

Security Utilities

  • Cryptomator - Fast file encryption for cloud storage GitHub
  • VeraCrypt - Strong disk, container and file encryption GitHub
  • KeePassXC - Password manager for KeePass files GitHub
  • Kleopatra - Certificate manager and PGP file encryption suit GitHub
  • WireGuard - VPN connection client using WireGuard protocol GitHub
  • CalmAV - Anti-virus scanner (See also, ClamWin GUI app) Website
  • BleachBit - Frees up disk space by deleting unneeded data in the cache and temporary files GitHub
  • Windows Spy Blocker - Block Microsoft telemetry and data collection and manage application access GitHub
  • Harden Tools - Easily turn off undesired or privacy-invasive Windows features GitHub
  • WFN - Firewall notifier to monitor outgoing connections GitHub

UI Utilities

  • CopyQ - Advanced clipboard manager GitHub
  • Espanso - Text expander with powerful matching system (similar to AHK) GitHub
  • AutoHotKey - Keyboard remapping, macros and automation scripting GitHub
  • Quick Look - Small utility that lets you quickly preview a file by pressing Space GitHub
  • EarTrumpet - A utility that provides better volume control on a per app basis GitHub
  • ColorPicker - Minimal but complete color picker GitHub
  • Power Toys - Color picker, fancy zones, run dialog, rename utility, shortcuts and more GitHub
  • SidebarDiagnostics - Customizable desktop widget showing system resource and hardware info GitHub
  • Wox - Global search, run commands and execute actions with Alt + Space GitHub
  • Groupy ❌- Group multiple windows into browser-like tabs, while preserving Alt + Tab switching

Creativity

  • Gimp - Image and photo editing application Git
  • DarkTable - Organize and bulk edit photos (similar to Lightroom) GitHub
  • InkScape - Digital drawing/ illustration Git
  • Audacity - Multi-track audio editor and recording GitHub
  • OBS Studio - High performance streaming/ broadcasting and recording GitHub
  • VLC Player - Multimedia player and play back framework GitHub
  • Shotcut - Video editing platform GitHub
  • HandBrake - For converting video from any format to a selection of modern codecs GitHub
  • Synfig Studio - 2D animation GitHub
  • Blender - 3D modelling, rendering and sculpting GitHub
  • Cura - 3D Printing software, for slicing models GitHub
  • Dia - Versatile diagramming tool, useful for UML (similar to MS Visio) Git
  • ShareX - Quick and easy screen recorder GitHub
  • SmugMug βŒπŸ’²- Premium photography backup, sync, sharing and publishing service GitHub

Media

Productivity

Development

  • VS Code - Customizable code editor, with InteliSense, built-in compilers, git and plugins
  • Cmder - Better console emulator for Windows, with Tmux-like features, great for SSH sessions
  • PostMan - For testing and developing API endpoints
  • Android Studio - For native Android development with Java/ Kotlin
  • Arduino IDE - Compile and upload for IoT devices
  • Processing - IDE and compiler for creative coding with the Processing language
  • DB Browser for SQLite - Create, design, and edit database files for SQLite
  • RunJS - Real-time JavaScript playground, useful for writing quick scripts
  • Docker Desktop - Easy way to containerize applications
  • Notepad++ - Lightweight text editor with syntax highlighting
  • Zap - Web app security analyzer
  • Vega - Automated security testing to find XXS, SQL injection and other issues
  • Git - Version control system

Device-Specific

  • YubiKey Manager - Configuring YubeKey devices
  • OnlyKey - For configuring the OnlyKey with PGP, SSH, Passwords, 2FA, Crypto and secure data
  • StreamDeck - Setting up macros on the StreamDeck
  • Razer Synapse ❌- Customize the RGB for Razer products
  • SoundBlaster Audigy FX ❌- Drivers and audio level customization for sound card
  • AMD Radeon Settings ❌- Drivers for customizing graphics card for different tasks
  • Chameleon - For programming the ChameleonMini NFC / RFID contactless smartcard emulator
  • Ledger Live ❌ - App for managing assets stored on Ledger Hardware Wallet GitHub

Installation

On new installs, Microsoft's Package Manager can be useful for quickly installing required software.

See also, my Winstall Collection of the above apps.


winget install --id=Lexikos.AutoHotkey -e
winget install --id=REALiX.HWiNFO -e
winget install --id=GNURadio.GNURadio -e
winget install --id=Balena.Etcher -e
winget install --id=WiresharkFoundation.Wireshark -e
winget install --id=Mozilla.Firefox -e
winget install --id=angryziber.AngryIPScanner -e
winget install --id=Microsoft.PowerToys -e
winget install --id=Docker.DockerDesktop -e
winget install --id=Oracle.VirtualBox -e
winget install --id=WinSCP.WinSCP -e
winget install --id=qBittorrent.qBittorrent -e
winget install --id=Cryptomator.Cryptomator -e
winget install --id=Keybase.Keybase -e
winget install --id=KeePassXCTeam.KeePassXC -e
winget install --id=StandardNotes.StandardNotes -e
winget install --id=Mozilla.Thunderbird -e
winget install --id=ProtonTechnologies.ProtonMailBridge -e
winget install --id=AgileBits.1Password -e
winget install --id=BraveSoftware.BraveBrowser -e
winget install --id=thehandbraketeam.handbrake -e
winget install --id=LibreOffice.LibreOffice -e
winget install --id=GIMP.GIMP -e
winget install --id=Inkscape.Inkscape -e
winget install --id=darktable.darktable -e
winget install --id=Audacity.Audacity -e
winget install --id=OBSProject.OBSStudio -e
winget install --id=VideoLAN.VLC -e
winget install --id=Meltytech.Shotcut -e
winget install --id=BlenderFoundation.Blender -e
winget install --id=Ultimaker.Cura -e
winget install --id=Spotify.Spotify -e
winget install --id=Valve.Steam -e
winget install --id=Postman.Postman -e
winget install --id=Arduino.Arduino -e
winget install --id=SQLiteBrowser.SQLiteBrowser -e
winget install --id=Notepad++.Notepad++ -e
winget install --id=elgato.streamdeck -e


Note: It's very important to always carefully check the URL for each download before proceeding. Only install applications from their official source.