The best free software to install on your new computer with Windows 10

Let's say that on the occasion of Christmas, New Year, kings or whatever, you have made a new PC with Windows 10. Perhaps you are already familiar with the system, perhaps you were still those who used Windows 7, or perhaps the computer or It is even new, but reading this article you may be able to release at least a couple of applications.

It is not new software and for many it may be known, but it serves as a starter guide for those looking for quality apps for Windows 10 that not only cover most basic needs when using a PC, but are also free.

A good office package

 

If you cannot or do not want to pay for an Office 365 or Office 2019 license, you always have the option of using Microsoft's free Office, that is, Office online. The only detail is that even if you install the free version of Office from the Microsoft Store, you will basically only get a web application launcher.

If you are doing well with alternatives, especially one that mimics the appearance of the Microsoft Office, ONLYOFFICE offers a free and open source version of its text editor, spreadsheet editor and presentation editor, the whole package weighs only 157 MB and is available for multiple platforms.

Another option aesthetically similar to MS Office, is WPS Office, which also has the advantage that it allows you to open the different apps of the suite in tabs within the same window. This download in addition to the three classic apps, also includes a PDF reader.

And finally, we cannot stop recommending LibreOffice apps that offers more applications than any of the previous suites, which is still free and open source, and that over the years has refined its compatibility with most other document formats. used, and quite modernized its interface.

A good image editor

 

If you can't or don't want to, or don't even need something as complex as Photoshop or Lightroom, there are very viable options for editing images that are offered for the fabulous price for free. It is possible that you already know one as famous as GIMP that since its version 2.10 looks better than ever, and will always be a highly recommended option.

However, if you are looking for something simpler and easier to use with a smaller learning curve, the most interesting image editor that I have discovered recently is PhotoScape X, it not only has a lot of basic functions to apply effects in a few clicks, but It supports up to RAW image editing. It has a lot of useful tools, and a tutorial for each.

A good email client

If something is difficult to achieve at the moment it is a good native mail client that is also free and that is thinking for personal users and not for a business environment. Although it seems that you should settle for the web, which is not so bad, if you prefer a dedicated app, we have written a long list of recommendations before.

From that list we can mainly recommend Mailspring because it has one of the best interfaces, it is easy to use, it supports multiple email accounts, it has a unified inbox, conversations, and simple ways to tag or highlight emails.

A good task manager

 

If you want something simple and straight to the point where you simply write down things and create lists with reminders, nothing is simpler than Microsoft To Do. If you want a little more than this, and you are also interested in being able to add photos or audio to your notes, there is always Google Keep, but this is just a webapp.

If you want something more complete, all-terrain, with calendar and lots of options that even serve to create databases, you have to take a look at Notion, an absolute productivity beast that also has one of the best interfaces out there.

A good music player

If you are looking for a free streaming music service, the only ones that have an ad-supported model and that let you use a native app in Windows 10 are Spotify and Deezer, the first is more complete than the second.

Now, if you are one of those who still download their own music, or listen to CDs on your computer, I cannot help recommending an old acquaintance that is still one of the best available: AIMP. It consumes few resources, offers great codec support and excellent sound quality, and has plenty of extra options with even support for some old Winamp plugins.

A good video player

 

You could simply download VLC and meet most of your needs. Others would recommend MPC-HC and you would have a great time, even better. And if you want a third option more interesting and on par with the previous two, check out PotPlayer.

And a handful of utilities

    ScreenToGif: in case you want to record the screen of your device and turn it into a GIF.
    DeepL: if you want to translate text instantly from anywhere.
    Youtube-dl: in case you want to download videos from YouTube or almost any other website.
    waifu2x-Caffe: if you want to double the size of an image without losing quality.
    Monosnap: if you want an easy-to-use screen capture tool with built-in editor.
    XnView: if you want a more powerful and lightweight image viewer.
    FalconX: in case you want to center your taskbar icons.
    Plex: in case you want to build your own multimedia center.