Favorite Software – Steve Schmidt

My personal software favorites. I install and configure many of these apps on every Windows workstation computer I setup for myself.

• All of these apps are free except for the ones marked with the #Cost tag.
• Several of these apps are available in the PortableApps system (see below) or can be downloaded and installed separately. Such apps are marked with the #AiPA (“Available in PortableApps”) tag.
• Many of these apps can be updated at the same time using the winget command described below.
• See al my Tech Notes for notes about software and gear, and my Security Guide for helpful security tips.

Jump to: § Collections, § Web Browsers, § Office / Editors / Designers / Viewers, § Utilities, § Windows Built-iin and Microsoft Store Apps, § Programming / Database / Analysis, § Specialized Tools, § Recreation / Games.

Collections

• PortableApps: Portable versions of over 500 free apps.
• The Best Free Software for 2024: List from PC Mag(azine) with some other great apps I use occasionally.

Web Browsers

• Mozilla Firefox: My main Web browser. Use its sync feature to sync bookmarks, passwords, etc. between computers.^#AiPA
  Favorite extensions:
  • uBlock Origin: Block most advertisements while browsing the web.
  • TWP - Translate Web Pages: Automatic real-time translation of webpages to your language.
  • DownThemAll!: Download all the pictures, videos, links, etc. on a webpage. See also JDownloader below.
• Tor Browser: Web browsing as anonymous as it gets.
• Google Chrome: A must-have for websites that misbehave in Firefox.^#AiPA

Office / Editors / Designers / Viewers

• Microsoft Office: Mandatory for most small business users.^#Cost See also the free LibreOffice next.
• LibreOffice: Best free word processor, spreadsheet, presentation designer, and database alternative to Microsoft Office.^#AiPA
• Joplin: Note taking app extraordinaire.^#AiPA
  Favorite plug-ins:
  • Math Mode: Calculator and measurement / currency converter embedded within the note taking app. Amazing.
  • Templates: Create simple templates for creating new notes.
  • Freehand Drawing: Create and edit freehand drawings, like in Microsoft OneNote.
• Signal Desktop: The desktop companion to the Signal messaging app.
• Microsoft Teams: The everything office team collaboration tool.^#Cost
• Microsoft OneDrive: Best of the online file storage options but prefer Resilio Sync for personal file syncing.
• paint.net: Simple, powerful image / photo editing software.^#AiPA
• GIMP: Sophisticated image / photo editing software but with a learning curve.^#AiPA
• Scribus: Desktop publishing app. Important now that Microsoft Publisher going away.^#AiPA
• yEd: Powerful diagramming tool.
• Maxima Computer Algebra System: A very sophisticated and capable calculator.
• HP Prime Virtual Calculator Emulator: Windows version of the HP Prime calculator.
  • HP Prime Apps: Apps and programs for the HP Prime calculator.
• Firebird Emu: TI-Nspire calculator emulator.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader: Still the best Adobe PDF file viewer.
• Okular: Universal document viewer. Get it from the Microsoft Store.
• VLC Media Player: Plays everything audio and video.^#AiPA
• FastStone Image Viewer: Excellent photo viewer and organizer.^#AiPA
• CapCut: Video editor free from TikTok parent company ByteDance.
• TurboTax: Tax preparation software. Or, as I call it, the Intuit tax.^#Cost
• Hallmark Card Studio Deluxe: Greeting card, envelope, and label designer.^#Cost

Utilities

• PeaZip: File compression and archiving utility.^#AiPA
• Resilio Sync: Synchronize file folders between computers without a server.
• Perfect Backup: Excellent file and folder backup program.
• Microsoft PowerToys: Some great utilities for Windows; something for everyone.
• Sysinternals: Advanced system utilities and technical info package.
• NetTime: Small utility to keep your computer clocks highly synchronized.
• Tree Size Free: Find which file folders are using the most storage space.^#AiPA
• Eraser: Erase files, folders, and free space securely.^#AiPA
• Duplicate Cleaner: Find and remove duplicate files.
• Avast Free Antivirus: Free antivirus program better than Microsoft Windows Defender.
• KeePass 2: Password manager. Not a huge fan, but if you need one, this is the one. Use version 2.
• JDownloader: Powerful, robust file download management tool. See also DownThemAll! above.
• yt-dlp: Powerful audio and video file downloader.
• ffmpeg: Convert, stream, and record audio and video.
• Google Earth Pro: Better than the web versions; worth the install.
• Bluestacks: Best Android on Windows experience.
• DOSBOX: Emulate an old DOS-based computer with excellent compatibility.
• DeX for PC: Run Samsung Android phone apps in a window on your PC. See also Phone Link below.
• Java Runtime: For running programs written in Java that do not include the runtime.^#AiPA
• VeraCrypt: File and disk encryption.^#AiPA
• Net Uptime Monitor: Simple local network and Internet connection monitor. Looking for free alternative.^#Cost

Windows Built-in and Microsoft Store Apps

• Microsoft Store: The store for easily-installable Windows apps.
• Phone Link: Make phone calls, send & receive texts, access smartphone apps in Windows. See also DeX for PC above.
• Quick Assist: Help family, friends, and coworkers with a remote connection to their computer.
• Snipping Tool: Capture screenshots, and with latest Windows, make screen recorder clips.
• Microsoft To Do: Great for shopping lists and simple lists as there is a smartphone version.
• BitLocker: Drive and device encryption for Windows. Requires Windows Pro or more.
• Windows Package Manager: Use to update many third-party apps. See my Windows computer update notes.
• Hyper-V: Hardware virtualization to run Windows and other computer operating systems. Requires Windows Pro or more.
• Windows Sandbox: A lightweight, isolated desktop environment for safely running software.
• Disk Cleanup: Built-in app to free unused storage space.
• Clock: World Clock with sun map especially useful.

Programming / Database / Analysis

• Visual Studio Code: Mostly a programming text editor.
• Vim: Windows version of the UNIX vi text editor includes a graphical interface.
• WinMerge: Compare file folders to find identical and different files, and review differences between files.^#AiPA
• Git: Distributed software / file version control system.
• Microsoft SQL Server Developer: Sophisticated database management system free for developers.
  • SQL Server Management Studio: The interactive tool for using SQL Server.
• Power BI Desktop: Interactive report and visual analytics creator.
• PostgreSQL: The most sophisticated free and open source database management system.
• SQLite: Small, fast, full-featured SQL database. Best 100k+ lines of program code ever.
  • DB Browser for SQLite: Interactive tool for using SQLite databases.^#AiPA
  • SQL.js: SQLite compiled to JavaScript to run inside Web browsers.
• DuckDB: Lightweight SQL database similar to SQLite but can be embedded in client-side webpages.
• Python: Run little programs written by Chat GPT. Learn programming.
• Orange Data Mining: Incredible data analysis tool. See my Orange installation and setup notes.
• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL): Linux programs integrated into Windows.
• Cygwin: Lightweight version of Linux-like open source tools for Windows. Mostly use Windows System for Linux (WSL) instead now.
• Math.js: Amazing library of math functions written in JavaScript.
• CyberChef: The Cyber Swiss Army Knife of useful operations. Try it here.

Specialized Tools

• SD Memory Card Formatter: For when memory cards cannot be formatted by Windows due to corrupt info.
• SSL Manager: Superior tool for managing and understanding SSL security certificates.
• Don’t Sleep: Prevent computer from sleeping due to administrative policies.
  • Unique Utilities: Other useful utilities from Nenad Hrg.
• HP-1973: Amazing HP-45 calculator emulator that shows its internal workings.

Recreation / Games

• Visual Pinball: Amazing pinball machine simulator / player and designer / editor.
• ScummVM: Run classic graphical adventure and role-playing games.
• ZZT: Text-based dungeon exploration game player and designer.
• PPSSPP: Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) game console emulator.
• PCSX2: Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2) game console emulator.
• RetroArch: Fancy front-end for game console emulators, game engines, and media players.
  • Recalbox: Much preferred over RetroArch, but will not run under / inside Windows.
• PySol Fan Club Edition: Over 1,200 solitaire card games and Mahjongg games.
• DD Poker: The original and best offline-only Texas hold ‘em poker game.
• GNU Backgammon: Definitive backgammon game and analysis tool.
• CheckerBoard: Definitive checkers game program.
• PyChess: Play chess against built-in engine or people over the Internet.
• Scrabble3D: Free version of the definitive word game.
• Domination: Risk-like turn-based strategy game.
• Minecraft: Most popular game of all time for a reason.^#Cost

Public domain (Un)License incorporated herein.