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Ask HN: What Windows apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?

3 pointsby wizerno11 months ago
Inspired by a similar post on macOS [1].<p>So, what applications do you use daily on Windows and why do you love it?<p>[1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=40627395

2 comments

crypt0sploit11 months ago
- Joplin - Note-taking, markdown, engineering homework (katex)<p>- Next-Web - OpenAI&#x2F;LLM API based Chat UI with image input (fast, reliable) <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;ChatGPTNextWeb&#x2F;ChatGPT-Next-Web">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;ChatGPTNextWeb&#x2F;ChatGPT-Next-Web</a><p>- WSL - Very handy when you need to quicky run Unix commands and also test some linux stuff<p>- Slack - MS Teams alternative
daviddever23box11 months ago
DISCLAIMER: this list is x64-centric, and your results may vary under arm64 environments.<p>---<p>PACKAGE AUTOMATION<p>- Windows Package Manager &quot;winget&quot; command-line tool (winget.exe): <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;microsoft&#x2F;winget-cli">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;microsoft&#x2F;winget-cli</a><p>On both Windows 10 and 11, every application and system package on my devices gets batch-installed, as winget import --import-file {{JSON-file}}, when possible. One can also export a list of installed packages for automation purposes.<p>Winget is shipped as a component of the App Installer package, which is supplied by default under Windows 11 but is an optional installation for Windows 10.<p>---<p>DRIVER AUTOMATION<p>- Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM.exe): <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;learn.microsoft.com&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;windows-hardware&#x2F;manufacture&#x2F;desktop&#x2F;what-is-dism" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;learn.microsoft.com&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;windows-hardware&#x2F;manufactu...</a><p>I use this a lot, as dism &#x2F;online &#x2F;export-driver &#x2F;destination:{{output-directory}}, mainly to manage exported driver packages post-Windows Update that are subsequently cherry-picked (latest active, installed version only), stored on a USB-C thumb drive, and pre-installed into a neutral OS (in Windows Audit Mode, using Ctrl-Shift-F3), via PnPUtil, for clean-machine testing.<p>- PnPUtil (PnPUtil.exe): <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;learn.microsoft.com&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;windows-hardware&#x2F;drivers&#x2F;devtest&#x2F;pnputil" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;learn.microsoft.com&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;windows-hardware&#x2F;drivers&#x2F;d...</a><p>As an example, I leverage the exported driver packages from above to one-click install them via a one-line batch command (in Windows Audit Mode, using Ctrl-Shift-F3 on first launch) for neutral-installation, clean-machine testing.<p>---<p>Automation is key to getting things done, and reproducible environments are a necessity, especially when performing regression testing across various Windows OS build versions.<p>The combination of DISM and PnPUtil is now fast enough that I actually no longer bother using WinPE to capture and flash system images, or setting up DISM to inject the drivers into an existing image. Time is money and personal sanity.<p>---<p>SCREEN CALIBRATION<p>- DisplayCAL: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;eoyilmaz&#x2F;displaycal-py3">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;eoyilmaz&#x2F;displaycal-py3</a><p>Every display panel I own (whether portable, laptop, all-in-one desktop, 4K monitor or other) gets a clean-room measurement under daylight (5000K) lamps with an X-Rite i1D3HL OEM colorimeter (e.g., CALIBRITE ColorChecker Display, et al), generating an ICC profile that can then be loaded into Windows Color Management at any later date.<p>Color calibration makes a huge optical quality-of-life improvement, with the occasional use of an adaptive grey-scale filter (to minimize color distraction, as well as to verify grey-scale compatibility and contrast) a close second.<p>This repo accommodates the changes required to run with Python 3 support.<p>---<p>DIAGNOSTICS<p>- REALIX HWiNFO: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hwinfo.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hwinfo.com&#x2F;</a><p>HWiNFO provides &quot;more info about your computer than you&#x27;ll ever need&quot;, which is nonetheless incredibly useful. I&#x27;ve been using this for years.