Our List of the Essential Windows Apps. Windows has more great programs than we can count, but some are essential to just about every PC setup. In this year’s annual Lifehacker Pack for Windows, we’re highlighting the must- have downloads for better productivity, communication, media management, and more. The Lifehacker Pack is a yearly snapshot of our favorite, essential applications for each of our favorite platforms. For our always- updating directory of all the best apps, be sure to bookmark our Windows App Directory.
Lifehacker’s App Directory is a new and growing directory of the best applications and tools for. You can download the entire pack together, or just pick the apps you want, and Ninite will install them all at once, no bloatware or toolbars included—perfect for new Windows installations or setting up your friends with a good set of apps.
And, just like every year, we have two packs for Windows: an Essentials pack that everyone should have, and an Extended pack, which includes some tools that more hardcore users will probably need around. This year we’ve added a new app or two, removed some unnecessary ones to keep the ever- growing pack lean, and included links to more Lifehacker guides on getting the most out of each app. Everyone knows their names: Firefox, VLC. So don’t forget to grab those ones manually after you’ve installed the rest of the pack with Ninite! Download the 2. 01. Lifehacker Pack Here. So, without further ado, here is the 2.
Lifehacker pack for Windows! Productivity. On the surface, Launchy is an utility that helps you launch programs super fast—but it’s really much, much more than that.
Not only can you launch your favorite programs with just a few keystrokes, but you can also open documents and folders, perform calculations, kill processes, search the web, and perform any number of advanced tasks (like start an SSH session). You might need to create some special shortcuts for “Modern UI” apps in Windows 1. Do you still launch applications by pressing the Windows key and searching for your app? So, for our note- taking portion of the pack, we give you two options: Resoph. Notes and Evernote.
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Simplenote’s native Windows app is now available, but Resoph. Notes is still our pick, letting you sync plain text notes through Simplenote or Dropbox so you can get back to work. Evernote, on the other hand, is more of a filing cabinet for notes, web clippings, and just about anything else you could possibly need.
It may seem like overkill, but once you actually figure out how to use it, it can be indispensable for work and play. The same can be said for Microsoft’s One. Note, which goes toe- to- toe with Evernote in most features. And One. Note has become especially appealing for Windows users after Evernote bumped up the prices of their paid plans and added more limitations to free users. Fortunately, you can swap over all of your Evernote notes in a snap if you feel like making the switch. One. Note is not included the Ninite one- click installer, so make sure you grab it at the link above if that’s the route you want to go.
Evernote and One. Note are two of our favorite tools, but both have changed substantially since we. Think of any tedious typing you do during the day—addresses, canned email responses, bits of code, or anything else—and imagine being able to type it all with just a few keystrokes. That’s what text expansion does, and it can save you hours of typing.
Phrase. Express is the best free option on Windows, and while it has its problems, its our go- to for folks new to text expansion. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it though, Breevy might be a worthy upgrade. In a regular day, most of us type the same things over and over again, wasting an enormous amount. If we had to pick a favorite, though, it’d be Wunderlist. It’s free, syncs to the cloud, and exists on just about any device you could want or have. And there’s now a plugin for Microsoft Outlook that makes it easier to share to- do lists, turn email into actionable to- dos, and set reminders based on emails and requests in your inbox. Just start it up and start making your lists.
It’s incredibly simple to use, which is exactly what you want from a to- do list: make it easy to add and move tasks, so you can get back to actually doing them. The to- do list is the crux of your daily productivity, but between all the task management apps out . Crack File For Spss 17 Serial Number. When Libre. Office’s word processor, spreadsheet tool, and presentation creator don’t cut it, Microsoft Office will undoubtedly fit the bill (albeit at a price). If you aren’t sure which one you need, check out our comparison between the two. And if you just need to view Office documents, you can check out the Microsoft Office Viewers instead. For a long time, Microsoft Office has been the reigning champ of office suites, but that.
Don’t do it! Unless compatibility issues force you into using Adobe’s reader, you’d be much happier with something fast, light, and simple, like the awesome (and free) Sumatra. PDF. If you need to edit PDFs, check out our favorite PDF editor, PDF- XChange.
Internet and Communication. The browser wars aren’t as close as they used to be, and most power users have switched over to Chrome these days. We can see why, too: it’s fast, smooth, syncs all your settings, and has an incredible extension library. It may not be quite as customizable as Firefox, and it may use a lot of RAM, but for the majority of people—even us power users—it’s more than enough. Chrome may be the best browser around, but it eats up your PC’s RAM like turkey on Thanksgiving. It's an incredibly.
With an app like Pidgin, you can sign into multiple accounts at once (like Google Talk, AIM, and Facebook Chat), carry on multiple conversations in one window, and do all sorts of other stuff with Pidgin’s fantastic plugins. Pidgin is our favorite instant messaging application for Windows, not only for all its great. Chances are, you have at least one or two friends and family members that will want to use Skype with you, so it’s a good program to have in your pocket, even if you don’t use it as part of your regular telephony.
Just make sure to disable the auto- start feature so it isn’t always running. You know what's absurd?
When you're sitting at your computer, decide you want to text a. VLC plays every file format under the sun, and it does it well. It isn’t our favorite video player—that honor goes to the amazing Pot. Player—but VLC is incredibly simple to download and use, so we’re substituting Pot. Player for VLC in this Lifehacker pack. It’s the app we’d recommend to just about anyone.
Plus, it can do a lot more than just watch video files, which makes it a good app to have around no matter what. VLC is easily one of our favorite media players (and yours too). However, it's not just a.
Google Photos uploads all of your photos from all of your devices for free, organizes all of your photos for you, and makes it easier than ever to share your photos with friends and family. Google announced Google Photos last week, a new photo hosting service that combines everything. Of course, if you aren’t a fan of photo management apps, you could just skip Picasa and use Dropbox instead. I’ve cycled through tons of photo apps and found little more than bloated software with excessive. For the rest of us, there’s Paint. NET: a basic, free, easy- to- use image editor that fills the basic needs you’ll encounter on a regular basis. This year we’re also including the slightly more advanced but still free GIMP, since its such a staple in any casual image editor’s arsenal.
Over six months ago, I stopped using Adobe Photoshop and switched to the open source alternative. If you aren’t sure what you want, we’d recommend Music. Bee as a good place to start (replacing our former choice, Winamp). It’s customizable, lightweight, and easy to use—a hard combination to find. It has tons of options to tweak the interface, install extra plugins, and otherwise get everything working just so.
If Music. Bee isn’t your cup of tea, check out the extended pack below for a few more options. Some apps are essential, and everyone who's anyone knows to have them on their computer. Spotify is a great app to keep around. It helps you discover new artists, try them before you buy, listen to different streaming radio stations, and create awesome collaborative playlists—among many other hidden features. Plus, music isn’t the only thing you can listen to on Spotify. There are audiobooks, radio dramas, language lessons, famous speeches, poetry, and even guided meditation.
Even if you listen to Spotify every day, there are tons of features you may not know about. Maybe it’s a work computer and a home computer, or maybe it’s three computers, a smartphone, a tablet, and a time machine that runs Linux. Whatever your span of devices, Dropbox is absolutely essential for keeping all your files (and other stuff) in sync. You get 2 GB of free space to start, but it’s really easy to load up on extra space for free.
Dropbox is one of the best file synchronization tools around, but you start out with only 2 GB of. When it comes to Windows, u. Torrent is still our tried- and- true Bit. Torrent app of choice.
It’s full of useful features, but keeps itself lightweight and easy to use, a balance few programs can truly say they’ve struck. It’s got a few ads, but they’re easy to disable.
Once you’ve got it set up, make sure it’s optimized for speed and privacy. Dear Lifehacker, My favorite private Bit. Torrent tracker, Demonoid, has apparently gone down for. There’s no worse feeling than having your hard drive crash and having to start from scratch. Enter Crash. Plan. While you could always back up to an external drive, that won’t save you if you lose your computer in a fire, burglary, or other disaster. Crash. Plan backs your computer up to the cloud, using either Crash.
Plan’s cloud service or a friend’s computer, keeping your data safe no matter what. Plus, it’s really easy to set up. Set it, forget it, and relax.