Essential Stuff for Windows

These are some of the software that I found useful from my time using Windows. Added bonus is that all of them are free and barring some exceptions FOSS. Even though I highly recommend everyone to use Linux, I’m pretty sure that it’s not a viable solution for many out there. For those apps which are packaged using winget you can just copy paste the command to powershell and hit enter for a quick installation. However some of them like the VC++ Redist and mpv aren’t yet packaged in winget. So install them the traditional way. So here they are :

  1. VC++ Redist

    All in one Visual C++ Redistributables. You’ll need it along the road so its better to install it all early.

  2. DirectX Redist (D3D9,D3D10,D3D11,XInput 1.3)

    Want to play old games? (From 2002-03 onwards) You’ll need this. First link is from Guru3D and the second one is from Microsoft. Both files are same though.

    winget install --id=Microsoft.DirectX -e

  3. JPEGView

    Amazing image viewer. Lightweight and Lightyears faster than the garbage that is Default Windows Photos App.

    winget install --id=sylikc.JPEGView -e

  4. mpv

    Best Video Player in existence. F**k VLC. Fight me.

    Ironically, VLC do have a winget package (mpv doesn’t ; yet) so here it is for convinience,

    winget install --id=VideoLAN.VLC -e

  5. 7-zip

    Don’t use WinRAR, It’s a meme.

    winget install --id=7zip.7zip -e

  6. QBittorrent

    For you know ‘downloading stuff’. Basically μTorrent minus the Cryptominer and shady stuff.

    winget install --id=qBittorrent.qBittorrent -e

Here is the Batch Script for convenience

winget install --id=Microsoft.DirectX -e ; winget install --id=sylikc.JPEGView -e ; winget install --id=7zip.7zip -e ; winget install --id=qBittorrent.qBittorrent -e ; winget install --id=VideoLAN.VLC -e

Could be useful/Niche

  1. OBS Studio

    Screen Recorder.

    winget install --id=OBSProject.OBSStudio -e

  2. Handbrake

    Video Encoder.

    winget install --id=HandBrake.HandBrake -e

  3. GIMP

    Photoshop but free.

    winget install --id=GIMP.GIMP -e

  4. darktable

    Lightroom but free.

    winget install --id=darktable.darktable -e

  5. Krita

    For drawing stuff.

    winget install --id=KDE.Krita -e

  6. AIMP

    Winamp but not dead.

    winget install --id=AIMP.AIMP -e

  7. Inkscape

    Vector Drawings.

    winget install --id=Inkscape.Inkscape -e

  8. Natron

    AfterEffects but free.

  9. Master PDF Editor

    Free PDF Editor that is actually pretty capable. Here is a link to the last free version (4.3.89) without watermarks.

Here is the Batch Script for convenience

winget install --id=HandBrake.HandBrake -e ; winget install --id=GIMP.GIMP -e ; winget install --id=darktable.darktable -e ; winget install --id=KDE.Krita -e ; winget install --id=AIMP.AIMP -e ; winget install --id=Inkscape.Inkscape -e ; winget install --id=OBSProject.OBSStudio -e

Extra Tip

You can use this website called winstall.app to generate batch scripts for multiple apps in winget.