In the nineties get free applications for Windows that offered a good level of quality and had a real utility it was really complicated. Yes, it was a stage in which shareware solutions were developed considerably, in fact DOOM was launching under that modality, but there was a deep division between quantity and quality.
Over the years this reality has changed dramatically. The development of free software has been enormous, and thanks to this we can find a lot of free applications for Windows 10 that offer great value and also have excellent quality, so much so that, in most cases, they have Little or nothing to envy to other paid applications.
The same goes for free games. Last January we published a guide dedicated to collecting ten of the best games that we can enjoy for free on PC without any cost, and today we want to share with you seven free applications for Windows 10 that you should take into account for the quality and functionality they offer.
We know that there are many free tools and applications, and that some of the ones we are going to see in this list could be replaced by "rival" solutions that also offer great value. That is why we have decided to include at the end of each one of those free applications for Windows 10 a direct reference to another alternative free
As always you can leave your own recommendations in the comments, as well as any questions you have. Without more, we begin.
1.-Free applications for Windows 10: LibreOffice for office automation
It is one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Office. Offers a very complete set of functions working with both documents and spreadsheets, databases, mathematical formulation and presentations.
Its performance is excellent even in equipment with modest hardware configurations, and is compatible with virtually every one of the formats used by Microsoft Office files and documents. The latter is very important, since if you are thinking of carrying out a transition from said suite to LibreOffice you will not have anything to worry about, your files and documents will work without problem.
These are the requirements that you must meet to enjoy LibreOffice, without a doubt one of the best free apps for Windows that currently exist.
- Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, or Windows 10.
- Pentium III or Athlon XP processor.
- 256 MB of RAM
- 1.5 GB of free space.
- Display with resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels and 256 colors.
What alternatives do I have?: FreeOffice and Apache OpenOffice suites are a good option.
2.-Free applications for Windows 10: Polarr for photo editing
This app debuted first in mobile devices, but with its arrival in compatible it has become one of the best free applications for Windows.
With Polarr we can retouch our photos in a simple but effective way. Is available in two versions, one free and one paid It works by monthly or annual subscription, but you have nothing to worry about, since it is perfectly functional in its free version.
We can download it directly from the Microsoft Store, where it is listed with quite modest requirements (Windows 10 64-bit and 1 GB of RAM), although it is clear that having superior hardware will result in a more fluid user experience and transitions and applications of effects and changes faster.
What alternatives do I have?: Adobe Photoshop Express is an excellent option. This is a "lite" version, that is, "cropped", of the well-known Adobe application.
3.-Free applications for Windows 10: text editing with Notepad ++
If what you need is an application that allows you to edit text in a way simple and without distractions unnecessary, but at the same time offering a good set of functions do not hesitate, Notepad ++ is one of the best solutions of this type that currently exist.
At first glance it reminds a lot of the classic Microsoft notebook, but Notepad ++ is much more complete and positions at a higher level, since it supports extensions, integrates a very interesting system that allows you to open several files and place them as if they were tabs of a browser and also supports a large number of programming languages.
In terms of its requirements, it is an undemanding application, since it works on any Windows XP-based or higher-level computer that has 512 MB of RAM and mount a Pentium 4 or equivalent Athlon.
What alternatives do I have?: Atom is undoubtedly one of the best options.
4.-Free applications for Windows 10: backup with Cobian Backup
Backups are essential for guarantee the integrity of our data and files, and its importance has only increased after the evolution experienced by the different types of malware that directly attack our storage units and their content.
A clear example is in ransomware, which acts kidnapping equipment It infects and completely erases stored data if we do not pay a ransom. If we have a backup we will not have a problem, since we can recover them, but otherwise we will be in a very delicate situation.
Backing up our data and files is highly recommended for security reasons, but also for dealing with various unforeseen, such as a hard drive failure or an unexpected error that makes it useless.
With Cobian Backup 11 we can make backups in a very simple way. It offers different functions that allow us to send our files to an external unit, to a location in the cloud or to an FTP server. Very complete, and very useful.
What alternatives do I have?: EaseUS Todo Backup is another of the best free applications for Windows 10 if we want to make backup copies.
5.-Free applications for Windows 10: TestDisk to the rescue
In the previous section we talked about how important it is to have our data and files safely in a backup, but what can we do if we find a sudden failure of the storage unit, or in one of your partitions, which occurs before we can update our last backup?
Many users will think that the only option is to give up, but fortunately it is not so, we can resort to TestDisk, a very interesting recovery tool that has everything we need to:
- Repair partition tables and deleted partitions.
- Recover the FAT32 boot sector from our backup.
- Rebuild the boot sector FAT12 / FAT16 / FAT32.
- Fix FAT tables.
- Rebuild the NTFS boot sector.
- Recover the NTFS boot sector from our backup.
- Fix MFT using the MFT mirror.
- Locate the backup SuperBlock ext2 / ext3 / ext4.
- Recover files from the FAT, exFAT, NTFS and ext2 file system.
- Copy files from deleted FAT, exFAT, NTFS and ext2 / ext3 / ext4 partitions.
What alternatives do I have?: Paragon Rescue Kit is a good option.
6.-Free applications for Windows 10: edit video with Shotcut
If you are looking for a tool that allows you to edit video in a simple way but without giving up a good set of functions you should give Shotcut a chance, a totally free application that offers a very solid value.
In the Microsoft Store is available, for some reason we do not know, with a price of 9.79 euros, but it's really free, so don't download it from that store, but from the official Shotcut website.
With this video editor you will enjoy very wide support (it is compatible with many formats), it supports resolutions up to 4K, allows to capture video and audio from a large number of sources and has a very intuitive interface that includes from file searches to coding panels.
What alternatives do I have?: OpenShot is another option to consider.
7.-Free applications for Windows 10: Tablacus, an excellent file manager
The Windows 10 file explorer has a lot of room for improvement, there is no doubt about that. Luckily we have very interesting free Windows applications that are able to fill that lack, and in this sense one of the most interesting is Tablacus.
With this file manager we have such attractive functions as the eyelash holder, which will allow us to group different folders of the computer in an orderly and intuitive way, since its operation is practically the same as we find in current web browsers.
Very complete and very easy to use, and also has a wide variety of accessories that we can install and customize for free, and that significantly improve their potential.
What alternatives do I have?: XYplorer is an excellent alternative, if Tablacus does not convince us.
