Windows tools [2024]

I use Windows for work and on my Surface tablet. While I prefer Linux for many reasons, when I do have to use Windows I have a set of go-to tools (many open-source) that can bring Windows mostly in parity with my Linux workflows.

I am sharing this list below, both for my own reference and for curious readers. Many of these tools can be installed using the winget package manager.

I have not included Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in this list, as I view this more as a feature of Windows that is enabled than a tool that is installed. But that is debatable.

Firefox: My browser of choice since it used to be called Phoenix (and then Firebird). I love the extensions ecosystem for Firefox. And it's even better to be supporting the underdog Firefox when most of the rest of the browser ecosystem is consolidating around Chrome.
Notepad++: An enhanced basic text editor that is better than stock Notepad in every way without sacrificing speed and with a negligibly small or zero added memory footprint.
KeepassXC: My password manager of choice. This reads and writes a keepass database where I store all of my passwords. This file is sync'ed across devices using rclone.
7-zip: The best open source compression/archiving tool for Windows. Windows has native support for zip but is missing support for a vast array of other file types. 7-zip can handle every file format I've encountered; although for the proprietary formats, 7-zip can only decompress and not compress. But why would you want to compress your data into a proprietary format anyway?
VLC: Handles playback of every video format I've encountered. You don't need Windows Media Player; you need VLC.
PowerToys: A set of enhancements to Windows that really should be baked in (perhaps someday these features will graduate from PowerToys to Windows). My most frequently used are Always on top and FancyZones.
LibreOffice: As I use Linux a lot, LibreOffice is my office suite of choice for Linux documents and I install it on Windows to be able to read and write LibreOffice files.
GnuCash: An accounting tool I've used for tracking personal expenses for over a decade. I doubt I will ever give this up for another tool.
rclone: A tool I use to backup data to cloud services. Used both standalone and in combination with restic.
restic: A backup snapshot repository. Allows efficient storage of multiple backups with deduplication. Used in combination with cloud storage via rclone.
WinDirStat: A fast and simple tool to discover what files are taking up space on disk so you can find opportunities to free up space.
SysInternals: A set of handy administrative command line tools. PsExec is the one I rely on the most.
Tailscale: An indispensable tool for creating a personal VPN of my devices regardless of what physical network they are attached to. I can access my devices no matter where I am on a private, secure connection. Essentially Wireguard made simple.
qBitorrent: A bittorrent client because there are always times you need to download something via bittorrent (like an Arch Linux ISO).
Git: The defacto standard for source control.
ffmpeg: The defacto standard for video editing. All done via command line, ffmpeg makes it easy to script and importantly repeat edits for multiple videos.
ImageMagick: The defacto standard for image processing via command line. ffmpeg's cousin for image editing. Makes creating/editing images completely scriptable.
Visual Studio Code: When a more powerful environment is needed for editing beyond Notepad++ or for coding projects. I appreciate the built-in file diff capabilities of VS code which obviates the need to install a separate file diff tool.
Python: While Windows (surprisingly) nowadays ships with Python, I find it better to install my own versions that I manage myself. Right now I need both Python3.9 and Python3.10 for different projects, although I am working to keep them on latest when I have spare time.
.NET SDK: I do a lot of .NET development. Can't develop software without the SDK (or so I'm told).
LinqPad: A GUI environment for running snippets of .NET code. Like a REPL that was missing from .NET. I can try out new features of .NET or do some quick prototyping before I try to build a complete program.
Zoom: As much as I would not like to rely on Zoom, it is needed for various virtual meetings and telemedicine that it needs to be installed whether I like it or not. This is the only item in this list that I am begrudgingly including.