Free Must Have Software
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Best Free Must-Have Software for Windows 10 (Also Linux / Mac) – A Beginner’s Guide – 2020

So you have installed a new operating system or have bought a new computer and are looking to get it ready for the daily use; or are just looking for new software to install, then this is the guide for you! Here I have listed 25 software, in as little words as possible, which are free or the ones whose free version is good to be used as stand-alone apps.

Multi-media Software

VLC Media Player

A complete video and audio player, well rarely do people use it for audio playback, but it has the capacity to do so. It will run almost any video file you throw at it.
Windows / Linux / Mac

iTunes

Now, this is what I call an audio player, beautiful, elegant and extremely simple to use with great features packed into one.
Windows / Mac

Spotify

This is a streaming service with a huge library, and great playlist suggestions, it has a paid version without the ads but the free version works brilliantly too.
Windows / Linus / Mac

Connect to the Internet

Mozilla Firefox

A powerful and secure and focussed on privacy, all that you need from your internet browser.
Windows / Linux / Mac

Mozilla Thunderbird

This is an open-source mail client for your computer from the same powerhouse.
Windows / Linux / Mac

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is mobile-chatting app that has a desktop client, making it easier to use WhatsApp as a native app allowing direct saving of media and chats
Windows / Mac

Telegram Desktop

Telegram is a mobile-chatting app that has a desktop client, making it easier to use Telegram as a native app allowing direct saving of media and chats
Windows / Linux / Mac

Skype

Skype is a video-calling and conferencing app used by many businesses. It is simple and powerful and is backed by Microsoft.
Windows / Linux / Mac

Google Drive

This cloud storage is offered by Google and comes pre-configured with Android devices making it an easier choice. It offers 15GB free storage.
Windows / Linux / Mac

Dropbox

Its one of the popular cloud storage services, but offers only 2GB of free storage. It has one of the best web interfaces and works with almost every Operating System.
Windows / Linux / Mac

One Drive

Cloud storage offered by Microsoft, offering free 5GB storage. It offers right out of the box experience, no installation needed with Windows 10
Windows / Linux(Unofficial)

AnyDesk

TeamViewer

Both AnyDesk and TeamViewer are screen sharing apps with free personal use. There are some difference when it comes to professional use, but for regular use, you can choose either
Windows / Linux / Mac

Make your windows more powerful (Utilities)

Everything

This is a lightweight but powerful search tool for Windows, with a very smart indexing and quick search with minimal resource usage.
Windows

Recuva

It is a must-have recovery tool, it helps you recover deleted files from your storage devices and works even on formatted devices.
Windows

F.Lux

A software, important for a good night’s sleep. It acts as a blue light filter, which helps in keeping the body clock in line.
Windows / Linux / Mac

winRAR

It is a data compression tool focussing on .zip & .rar with many other file formats including .iso, .tar and so on
windows / Linux / Mac

Make Your Computer more Secure

Proton VPN

A VPN service based out of Switzerland, giving unlimited bandwidth for the free version. It is slow but does the job perfectly and is very simple to use. I don’t suggest using free VPN for all internet activities but rather to use it for sensitive work.
Windows / Linux /Mac

AVG Antivirus

AVG has been rated amongst the best Antiviruses for the last couple of years. Its free version is enough if you want an extra layer of security for ‘just in case’. But I do recommend buying an Antivirus for windows, for that I recommend Bitdefender.
Windows / Mac

Be more Productive

Libre Office

A free and Open source replacement to Microsoft Office. The software has alternatives to Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access and it has application for diagrams and formula editing.
Windows / Linux / Mac

Google Office

It’s an Online Office suite which means connectivity and teamwork. It works directly in your browser, so you don’t need to install it unless you want to use it offline., for that you install a Chrome App. The downside is that you need to install Chrome Browser for offline use
Windows / Linus / Mac

Foxit Reader

This is a free PDF reader that lets you annotate, convert and create PDFs. It’s very easy to use and has plugins for Microsoft Office to make creation very easy.
Windows / Linux / Mac

Take Notes

Google Keep Ext.

This application lets you take notes easily, has features like colour labels and categories. It’s a native app on Android but for computers, you need Chrome Browser to have an offline app, or you can use it directly in any browser through the site.
Windows / Linux / Mac

Simplenote

This is a truly free application for all devices. It is a simple clean notes application. It has markdown support and has a sharing feature. But the best part about this is that it keeps the older versions of your notes, and lets you go back to them with a simple slider.
Windows / Linus / Mac

Evernote

This application lets you create notebooks and add individual notes to them. It lets you format the notes in various ways. You can colour-code the notebooks and sort them easily. The free version lets you sync 2 devices at a time, which takes care of your computer and phone.
Windows / Mac

And that’s it, you are ready to go about using your computer. In this list we haven’t seen the more complex apps like video, photo editing or coding, I think that requires a different list altogether, and so they are left out.

Thanks for reading!