The Windows operating system itself offers the user a fairly wide range of features, but if you need more, there are programs that expand or improve its functions.
The programs listed below solve various problems and can be useful to all users of a Windows laptop or PC. They are guaranteed to be free of viruses and adware bookmarks, don’t impose third-party software or engage in surreptitious modification of the operating system’s settings. Also some of them have the open-source code and portable versions, which don’t require installation, litter the system, and can be run from USB drives on any available computer.
Media
OBS Studio
Whether you need to record a desktop video for a lesson, record or broadcast a game, try OBS Studio to get started. It’s functional, user-friendly (but newbies will have to understand the interface first), and it works just fine.
OBS Studio makes it possible to quickly switch between scenes, display an image from a webcam, display a list of donations and donations, a chat window, and other important information.
The program has a chroma key function, which means that the user, having installed a monotone background behind the back, can easily replace it with any image or video.
Movavi Video Editor Plus
The program is a well-known video editor and Windows 10 media creation tool like expensive counterparts from Adobe Systems, Sony, Corel, and still performs very well. Its main competitive advantage is its versatility. The package includes tools for editing, video and frame-by-frame processing, sound recording, and exporting the results to the web.
And the capabilities of Movavi Video Editor Plus can’t be called amateurish. The developers have even provided a tool for creating titles. It is possible to edit both an entire movie and simple music videos for YouTube.
FastStone Image Viewer
A small program for viewing, converting, and editing images. It supports almost all image formats (BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, PSD, EPS, TIFF, WMF, ICO, CUR, TGA), the most popular camera RAW formats (CR2, CR3, CRW, NEF, NRW, PEF, RAF, RWL, MRW, ORF, SRW, X3F, ARW, SR2, RW2, DNG) and animated GIF files.
Allows you to quickly crop, rotate, color-correct photos, resize them, add text, visual effects, and watermarks, view EXIF information and create slideshows. FastStone Image Viewer is able to interact with scanners, supports batch processing of images, and in comparison with similar products, runs smoothly.
Spotify
Spotify Music is one of the most popular music streaming services today. Users will be able to access a huge catalog of music and listen to it from a variety of desktops, laptops, cell phones, and tablets.
Spotify has a huge amount of music, mixes, and singles, supports streaming audio compositions and allows you to create and personalize a playlist. Moreover, you can sign in via Facebook and share music with friends.
Security
Tencent PC Manager
Tencent PC Manager is a free Chinese antivirus that got its start after its other relative, 360 Total Security, was disqualified from the top antivirus ranking. Both products have notable similarities.
This year, the antivirus in question was tested only in Virus Bulletin (the results are close to the maximum), although it was also studied in AV-Comparatives until 2019.
Tencent PC Manager plugs in a detection system from BitDefender, the perennial leader among antiviruses, no extra features other than real-time protection, fixing system problems after threats, and on-demand scanning here.
Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes (formerly Malwarebytes Anti-Malware) is one of the most popular programs for finding and then removing unwanted software from your computer, capable of working as an antivirus as well.
Most reviews note the high degree of malware detection on your computer and its effective removal, even in the free version. After scanning, the threats found are quarantined by default and can then be removed by going to the appropriate section of the program. If you want, you can exclude threats and not quarantine/uninstall them.
Data&Storage
Puran File Recovery
Free and effective data recovery software. Successfully returns information not only in the situation with ordinary deleted files but also copes with those cases where the data is erased and the flash drive is formatted, for example, from FAT32 to NTFS.
Puran File Recovery is simple and easy to use. But because of the thorough and high-quality work, it is possible to scan the system for a longer time.
Eraser
A utility for deleting data without the possibility of recovery. The application is embedded in the context menu of Windows and allows you to erase files and folders on both internal and external USB drives (e.g., flash drives) with one mouse click and irretrievably.
Eraser is also able to wipe free space on the disk, using various algorithms of guaranteed data destruction with multiple overwrites of selected data areas with blocks of random numbers to prevent the possibility of data recovery. The program will be useful to all users without exception because files deleted by the usual means of Windows can be easily recovered, which means that classified information can easily fall into the hands of interested parties.
Ultimate Windows Tweaker
Ultimate Windows Tweaker is a small computer utility to quickly tweak your Windows 10 operating system settings or Windows updates and optimize performance. This program allows you to customize and personalize your Windows laptop, making the system more stable, faster, and safer.
OneNote
When it comes to software for taking notes, diaries, and storing text and graphic information, it’s hard to say which program is best: it largely depends on the habits and needs of the individual user. But if you do not know where to start, we recommend Microsoft OneNote.
It is available for all common platforms: you can work with OneNote on Windows, Mac OS, Android and iOS. For pen devices, support for handwriting and drawings.
Convenient organization of notebook sections, pages in them, the ability to create tags for search and a simple full-text search make it relatively easy for any user to understand the program.
Online conferencing
Zoom
Zoom is the most popular online conferencing service, and I’ve used it more than once. The program has both free and paid access. Not only that, it is simple and lightweight, available on almost all devices – old and new, mobile and PC.
The main feature of the program is that even with a free account, you can connect up to 100 participants to one online conference. And it is also possible to add people through regular phone numbers, in case the application is not installed on a PC.
Conclusion
Of course, this is not a complete list of programs. There are many more applications worth your attention, but the ones on this list are the best and most popular. They will help to use the resources and capabilities of your computer at 100% and work quickly and comfortably.
