Microsoft has increased the amount of software included by default in its latest operating systems. Some of the default Windows 11 applications are useful, some are expendable, and all have their counterparts from third-party developers, in most cases with free solutions better than the installed ones. as we will review in this article.
And is that talking about Windows today is to talk about Microsoft software with capital letters. A system must have internal tools to perform main tasks, but the Windows 11 (and Windows 10) is excessive and the company tries every means (some questionable). to boost its own services. And we are not talking about bloatware, which is also. In our opinion, it would be more interesting to have a much cleaner Windows and for Microsoft to offer the rest of the software as an optional download.
Until that time comes (if it comes) there are ways to prevent the huge number of applications from penalizing the user experience, taking up storage or memory resources, lowering performance and stability, and generally penalizing the user experience. There are two main ways, uninstalling unnecessary software (whenever possible because some applications are part of the system or it is not possible) or otherwise betting on better alternatives to those delivered by Microsoft.
Alternatives to the default applications of Windows 11.
Web browser
Edge is the default browser of Windows 11 and Microsoft insists on its use in a tiresome way and with controversial methods. Although with the Chromium treatment, Edge has become the best development of its kind the vast majority of users prefer other developments as the market share shows. The alternatives are clear and forceful, starting with the leader Google Chromepassing through Mozilla Firefox and ending with the rest, headed by Opera.
File Explorer
Microsoft has revamped a must-have application for any PC, which lacked features like tabs that others have had for decades. But there are others that are still better, such as File Apps, available for free from the Microsoft Store and offers better organization and more customization. It supports tabs, multi-pane and tree views, labels, compact overlay, custom themes and more. It can work alternatively and also set it to be the default browser.
Uninstaller
Windows 11 allows you to uninstall applications (not all) from the Settings tool, from the Control Panel or via the command line. But here third-party solutions win by a landslide in interface and especially in execution. One of them is the free and open source script that does not even need installation, Bloatware Removal Tooland others we like such as O&O AppBuster or Bulk Crap Uninstaller. There are many of this type to choose from and they will surely be useful to you.
Notepad
Until Windows 10 the official Notepad application was a sort of completely stagnant residue. With Windows 11 Microsoft revamped it, although it is still far from what others offer. Certainly, many users do not ask much more to a text editor as basic as this, but if you are more demanding try Notepad++ and see what you’re missing. It is an open source editor with support for multiple programming languages, syntax highlighting, rich formatting support, plug-ins and more.
Image Editor
Microsoft has also renewed its Paint for Windows 11, but the changes are more aesthetic and usability than functional. It is still a basic and easy to use editor, but those who need more, without having to reach the big solutions such as Photoshop or Gimp, have a choice. The one we like the most among the free ones is Paint.NET. Very complete, it allows editing, manipulation, photo adjustments and even drawing tools. It has a large user community, tutorials and extensive support for additional plug-ins.
Media Player
After the Groove Music and Movies & TV fiascos, Microsoft has produced a new version of the classic Media Player brought up to date with ‘modern’ design. It looks good, but is still in development and lacks features. In this group of alternatives to the default Windows 11 applications, the following stand out VLC media playerone of the world’s leading multimedia players and frameworks. Free and open source software, it supports codecs of all kinds, works on desktop and mobile systems and is distributed under the GPLv2.1+ license.
Start Menu
It seems incredible that we have to keep talking about this component with how well resolved it was in Windows 7 and previous systems. Microsoft made life incomprehensibly complicated with its elimination in Windows 8 and although it was implemented again and has been improving it, users are still looking for alternatives because they have not found a menu as consistent as the one in Windows 7. For the occasion we highlight Open-Shellthe open source variant of the well-known Classic-Shell. Another one we like is Start11, probably the best alternative start menu in existence, but it is commercial software priced at 7 euros.
Antivirus
Microsoft has done a good job the last few years to improve the integrated security solution it offers for free in Windows and today Microsoft Defender can be sufficient protection for a good part of users. But the big cybersecurity specialists also offer free versions of their solutions and in our opinion, they are still more capable than the integrated solution. The one we like best is Kaspersky Freeavailable for Windows, Android and iOS, free and with the technology of one of the greats in computer security.
Compressed files and ISOs
Windows 11 Explorer can decompress ZIP files, but in a very limited way. If you work with this type of formats you will need a third party application with greater capacity. In this group we highlight 7-Zipfree and open source software, which uses its own ‘7z’ file format by default, although it supports others such as ZIP and RAR for both decompression and compression and is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows systems. As for the ISO format, Windows does not stand out in its support either and it is necessary to resort to specialized applications such as WinCDEmuone of the ones we like the most for its simplicity and capacity.
System information
Windows 11 provides information about the installed hardware, but in a basic way. If you need something more informative and detailed about its components, you can choose something like Speccywhich, in addition to an attractive user interface, displays information about the motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, connected displays and other additions such as software updates and installed security services. There is a lot of good stuff in this field and another one we like is HWMonitor, which reports on the hardware but specializes in real-time monitoring of the controls of those aspects that show the health of the PC.
Task Manager
It’s been one of the most improved system tools in Windows 11/10, but if you need more, we recommend Process Hacker which in addition to being free is open source and has a portable version that does not require installation. It monitors system resources, detects malware and performs behavioral analysis. It displays processes in a color-coded hierarchical tree, making it easy to identify and right-click to terminate, debug, virtualize or access their properties.
Calculator
Most users may not need an alternative to Windows Calculator, but there are others that are more efficient and feature-rich. SpeedCrunch is a third-party scientific calculator with a keyboard-driven user interface. You can type any calculation and it will display the result as you type. It allows you to reuse your previous entries and results, includes customizable syntax highlighting to identify errors, supports over 80 built-in mathematical functions, and its formula book has over 150 constants.
Screenshot.
Snipping Tool is the screenshot tool of Windows and for many insufficient. As in the rest of the sections there are alternatives such as a ShareX packed with features, custom actions, OCR, screen recording (GIF and video) and more. You can capture a region, a window, a full screen, etc. Another alternative we like is Greenshot, also free.
