This gist showcase most of the application I use often on my Windows machines. In general, I try to use open softwares that replace apps used by default on Windows, such as the image viewer.
I am very thrilled to compile this little list. I am very proud of the application I gather over the years.
I won't be showcasing everthing I'm using, but rather the tools that are unpopular due to their open-source nature (Which generally meant they are not well advertised), but that are actually great replacements!
There is 3 keys points in choosing an application for me:
- The application must be open source, preferrably under an OSI approved license.
- The application must be quick to interact with. (For the "dumb" example, I wouldn't use Photoshop just to see a picture on my PC...)
- The application must be maintained on the concerned repository.
An open-source, modern looking, media player for Windows. It uses LibVLCSharp behind the scene to output media, which is what VLC Media Player uses.
Screenbox is NOT available as a chocolatey package. Click on the title to go to the repository directly.
A more lightweight video editor I was able to find to be reliable and still allow me to make few modification without opening a whole project just to crop, a video or make it go to another format. Feels reliable. I wonder why it doesn't show more interest to peoples.
OpenShot is available as a chocolatey package. (As openshot)
SumatraPDF viewer is a great, if not the best, PDF viewer you can get. It's definitively the quickest and less ressources-intensive program for PDFs. Despite lacking the posibility to edit a PDF in SumatraPDF, it's not the goal, we're just using this app to quickly, blazingly-fast open PDFs.
It works really well with large PDFs too!
SumatraPDF is available as a chocolatey package.
Behind a quite similar name to emacs, Nomacs is made to open images in a single window so you can focus on it. It work really well and you have the chance to apply adjustements to it, like you used to do in the Microsoft's Photos application.
A great replacement in my opinion with a very well maintained repository. Also, cropping in Nomacs is SO much better than it is on Photos. Just for that, it is an easy switch!
Nomacs is available as a chocolatey package.
Quite the revelation here, uh? An open-source scanner. Great, GREAT replacement to the default Microsoft's Scanner application. Comes with many tools to perfectly master your freshly scanned documents!
Thank to a very easy to understand interface and complete functionalities available on the app, you are able to just straight up scan and send it your files right after scanning and modifying as needed.
NAPS2 is available as a chocolatey package.
I do not believe I need to make an introduction here. :)
Thunderbird is a great e-mail client. Despite its poor UX, it has recently been remastered by the Mozilla Foundation and it is now better than ever to use it. If you are looking for a more modern experience despite sacrificing a more free (As-in freedom) and more reliable experience, you can check out Mailspring .
Thunderbird is available as a chocolatey package.
I've been looking far and wide for a great solution to enjoy a nice terminal. Didn't wait long until I find tabby, a modern terminal that ships a damn lot of cool stuff! It includes too much things to talk about these in here, you should check out the tabby's website instead: https://tabby.sh/
Tabby is available as a chocolatey package.