The useful takeaway is not to install all five on every PC. It is to match each tool to a specific Windows limitation, keep the lowest-risk choices as defaults, and treat UI modification and multi-repository package updates as changes that deserve the same review as any other system-management tool.
Microsoft’s own documentation confirms that Windows Package Manager, better known through the winget command, can install, remove, configure, and upgrade applications. Microsoft also provides winget upgrade --all for broad updates. The problem How-To Geek identifies is therefore not that Windows lacks package management; it is that the stock experience remains command-line first. UniGetUI supplies a graphical layer over winget and, if enabled, other package managers such as Scoop and Chocolatey.
VLC remains the pragmatic default media player
VLC is the least controversial recommendation in How-To Geek’s August 23 roundup. VideoLAN’s player has long been the sensible default for local media files, discs, network streams, subtitle-heavy releases, and containers that Windows’ bundled Media Player may not recognize or may handle only after additional codec installation.
That does not mean every playback failure is Windows Media Player’s fault. Codec support, GPU driver behavior, protected content, damaged files, and hardware acceleration can all determine whether a video opens cleanly. Microsoft’s HDR guidance also makes clear that HDR playback depends on the display and Windows HDR configuration; simply switching applications cannot make an SDR monitor reproduce HDR.
Still, VLC’s broad format and protocol support is a real advantage for ordinary Windows users. It is a good replacement default for local video because it reduces the chance that an MKV, an unusual audio track, or an external subtitle file becomes an immediate troubleshooting job. The practical move is to set VLC as the default only for the media extensions a user actually wants it to own, rather than letting it indiscriminately take every audio and video association during installation.
For a family PC, a shared workstation, or a machine where someone just wants files to open reliably, VLC is the answer from this list that needs the least qualification.
mpv is for playback tuning, not a friendlier VLC
How-To Geek presents mpv as the better choice for high-refresh, UHD, and HDR video. That may be true for a particular system and configuration, but it should not be read as a universal verdict. mpv is a highly configurable player and renderer; its official manual documents both HDR handling options and text-based configuration files. The point is control, not simplicity.
On Windows, HDR remains a chain of dependencies: the display must support HDR, Windows must be configured appropriately, the graphics stack must cooperate, and the player needs settings compatible with the display target. mpv can tone-map HDR material for an SDR display or attempt HDR output on supported hardware, but those are different goals with different settings. A picture that looks “better” in one setup can look washed out, clipped, or incorrect in another.
The article is right about mpv’s chief drawback: routine adjustments often mean editing mpv.conf, rather than working through a conventional settings dialog. That makes it poorly suited as the first media-player recommendation for most people. It makes much more sense for enthusiasts who know why they are changing output settings, want reproducible configuration files across machines, or need control beyond what VLC exposes comfortably.
Community configuration files are useful starting points, but they should not be treated as drop-in prescriptions. A config optimized for an OLED HDR television, for example, can be a poor fit for an SDR laptop display. Copy the smallest set of settings that solves an observed problem, then document the change before adding more.
Windhawk is powerful precisely because it changes running Windows processes
Windhawk is the entry in this list that deserves the most careful framing. It can restore or reshape parts of the Windows 11 experience through focused mods for the taskbar, Start menu, File Explorer, and other applications. Its modular approach is materially different from replacing the shell wholesale: a user can add a narrow fix, disable it later, and inspect the mod’s source code.
But the underlying mechanism is not cosmetic. Windhawk’s own technical documentation describes global code injection and hooking, with mods loaded into target processes. Its troubleshooting guidance also acknowledges that antivirus products can block the tool or interfere with applications because of that injection behavior. This is not evidence of wrongdoing by Windhawk; it is a predictable consequence of a class of customization software that must alter another process’s behavior to work.
That has two practical consequences that the “just hit apply” framing leaves out. First, every mod should be evaluated separately. Open source makes review possible; it does not mean every community mod receives the same scrutiny, maintenance, or compatibility testing. Second, Windows feature updates can change the shell internals a mod expects. Windhawk’s documentation notes that compatibility can vary by mod and Windows build, while its support material discusses periods in which needed debug symbols may not yet be available after an update.
For personal enthusiast machines, that trade-off can be entirely reasonable. For managed endpoints, regulated devices, shared PCs, or systems where supportability matters more than taskbar aesthetics, it is a poor default. Administrators should keep Windhawk off their standard image unless they have a defined support owner, a tested mod set, and a rollback plan.
A disciplined use pattern is straightforward:
- Install only the specific Start menu, Explorer, or taskbar mod that addresses a known irritation.
- Read the mod description, settings, supported Windows versions, and source before enabling it.
- Disable or remove UI mods before a major Windows upgrade if the vendor has not confirmed compatibility.
- Do not “solve” antivirus alerts by broadly excluding processes or weakening endpoint protection without understanding what is being excluded.
Windhawk can make Windows 11 feel substantially less rigid. It does so by sitting directly in the path of the applications it modifies, which makes it a customization tool to manage—not merely a theme pack.
7-Zip fills a genuine archive-format gap
Windows can create and extract standard ZIP archives, and recent Windows releases have improved native compressed-file handling. But that is not the same as being a full archive utility. 7-Zip remains useful because it deals with formats Windows does not handle as broadly or as predictably, including 7z, RAR, TAR, and ISO-related workflows, while adding advanced compression controls and encryption options.
The 7-Zip project documents AES-256 encryption support for 7z and ZIP archives. That is valuable when archives need confidentiality, but encryption is only one part of protecting a file. Users still need a strong, unique passphrase and a safe way to transmit it separately from the archive. They should also understand that encrypted file contents may not conceal every piece of metadata, depending on the format and options selected.
The more common reason to install 7-Zip is less dramatic: dealing with vendor downloads, legacy backups, Linux-oriented archives, multi-part files, or a large compressed package without guessing which utility will open it. Its interface looks austere because it has changed slowly, not because its functionality is shallow.
NanaZIP, the Windows 11-styled fork mentioned by How-To Geek, may be attractive for users who want a more native-looking context-menu experience. But 7-Zip itself is the lower-complexity recommendation when the objective is archive compatibility and predictable behavior. The original project’s sparse interface is a minor cost for a tool most people open only when an archive arrives.
UniGetUI’s value depends on package-source discipline
UniGetUI is perhaps the most useful recommendation for a Windows power user who has accumulated applications from websites, the Microsoft Store, GitHub releases, and multiple package repositories. It presents package-manager results in one interface and can coordinate installation, removal, and updates through winget, Scoop, Chocolatey, and other supported sources.
The important correction is that it cannot literally update every application on a PC. Microsoft’s own winget upgrade --all documentation says upgrades are limited to applications for which the package manager can identify an available update; some installed software has unknown versions, different installers, unavailable manifests, or its own update mechanism. A graphical front end does not remove those underlying limitations.
Adding multiple repositories also expands the available catalog and the trust decisions attached to it. Microsoft explicitly advises users to use secure, trusted winget sources. With UniGetUI, package names may appear in more than one repository, versions can differ, and a source selection determines where an installer and metadata originate. The software-management convenience is real, but it should not encourage blind bulk updates.
For a personal PC, start with winget and enable another package manager only when it provides a specific application missing from the default source. Before performing a broad update, review the pending list. Updates involving browsers, security products, drivers, virtualization tools, or business software may close applications, require restarts, or change behavior in ways that are harmless at home but disruptive on a work machine.
The better baseline for Windows 11 is therefore selective: VLC for broad local playback, 7-Zip for archive work, mpv when video output needs expert-level control, UniGetUI for people willing to manage software sources deliberately, and Windhawk only where shell customization is worth the maintenance burden.
Windows 11 does not need all five tools to become usable. It needs users and administrators to recognize where Microsoft’s defaults end—and where adding another layer of software also adds another layer of responsibility.