Every fresh Windows 11 install brings the same question: what do you add first to make the machine truly useful? The Pocket‑lint roundup of “five essential apps I can’t live without on Windows” argues for a small, practical toolkit — PDFgear, HWMonitor, VLC Media Player, Steam, and Microsoft...
essential apps
gaming platform
hardware monitoring
hwmonitor
media playback
microsoft powertoys
open source
pc setup
pdfgear
productivity
security privacy
steam
system utilities
tech guides
vlc media player
windows 11
Windows ships with capable, polished defaults — but for many real workflows the built‑in apps are the bottleneck: limited features, conservative design choices, and occasional performance problems leave gaps that small, focused third‑party tools fill quickly and cheaply. The six alternatives...
alternatives
built-in-apps
clipboard history
ditto
everything
imageglass
open source
pdf viewer
pdfgear
photos
productivity
sharex
snipping tool
software replacements
vlc
windows
windows search
Windows ships with a tidy set of built‑in utilities that make a PC usable out of the box — but if you’re looking for speed, control, and features that actually match real workflows, the defaults often fall short and quietly slow you down. A recent roundup arguing that Windows’ bundled apps can...