If you've been on Youtube long enough, you've probably seen a couple videos where each Youtuber makes a list of "You Must Try These Programs". But chances are, only a few of them would be useful to you.
Let me go through my own setup, and I'll explain why each of them are useful to me in one way or another. If it's not noted as freemium or paid, then it's free. Maybe you'll find something useful for yourself. I am on Windows 11.
 |
| Photo by Sebastian Bednarek on Unsplash |
Audio
NVIDIA Broadcast -- filters out noise from any microphone input or speaker output
Audacity -- the best sound editor and free
Peace and EqualizerAPO -- a genuine equalizer for Windows
Video
NVIDIA Broadcast -- it will take background out of videos, blur them, replace them...
Handbrake or Format Factory -- convert video (or audio) from one format to another
VLC Player or any other Media Player alternative -- playback most formats, online or off
DisplayFusion (freemium) -- manages multiple monitors with ease, task bar, wallpaper, and more
Davinci Resolve Free (paid available) or Shotcut or CapCut (freemium) -- video editor, CapCut is probably easiest but some functions locked away under freemium, ShotCut is a bit more professional, and Davinci Resolve is super powerful but complicated.
Clipboard Fusion -- hotkeys, transforms, triggers, sync, history... make your clipboard useful!
Desktop Customization
Wallpaper Engine (paid) -- live wallpaper that covers multiple monitors, that truly interact with you, playlists, support PC RGB lighting engine sync...
Fences (freemium) -- automatically organize your desktop shortcuts and icons into groups, have them fade or vanish when not in use
Rainmeter -- customizable skin / widget you can place on your desktop
Launcher / File Manager / Explorer Alternative
Launchy -- hit a hotkey to bring up a program launch bar by typing in partial name, no need to hunt in Windows desktop or start menu, supports skins. NOTE: Windows PowerToys have something similar,
Double Commander -- a clone of the old Norton Commander
Text Expander
Define short phrases, and these programs will expand them into full sentences as you type them. AutoHotKey will also give you macro capability with your regular keyboard
Mobile Link
Microsoft Phone Link -- Link your Android or iOS smartphone to your PC via Bluetooth and companion app, and get phone notifications on the PC, answer phone calls on PC, do SMS, etc.
Offline Reader
Omnivore -- a free offline reader that also gives you FREE email addresses that you can cut off to kill off spam that won't let you unsubscribe. So your "mailing list" goes into your offline reader instead of your inbox.
Office Suite
LibreOffice -- or any other similar suite such as OpenOffice, PolarisOffice, OnlyOffice, WPS Office, SoftMaker Office, and too many others to list.
Zettlr -- think of it as a MUCH simplified version of Obsidian.md, it's all markdown files, and little else.
Notepad++ -- it's just a much better notepad, but there are many other alternative text editors
Miscellaneous
WizFile -- search for any file on your HD(s) with very fast filtering (you can also try Everything)
WizTree -- display your HD's usage per folder... also very fast
Revo Uninstaller (freemium) -- Uninstaller, everybody needs one, the built-in is not good
And Microsoft PowerToys...
Well, that's most of what I use. I hope you find something useful in here.
No comments:
Post a Comment