Microsoft has increased the amount of default software included in its latest operating systems. Some of the default Windows 11 apps are useful, some are dispensable, and all have their counterparts from third-party developers, in most cases with free solutions better than installed ones as we will review in this article.
And it is that talking about Windows today is talking about Microsoft software with capital letters. A system should have internal tools to perform core tasks, but Windows 11 (and Windows 10) it is excessive and the company tries by all means (some questionable) boost your own services. And we are not talking about Bloatware anymore, that too. In our opinion, it would be more interesting to have a much cleaner Windows and for Microsoft to offer the rest of the software as an optional download.
Until (if) that time comes, there are ways to prevent the sheer number of apps from penalizing the user experience, taking up storage or memory resources, degrading performance and stability, and generally penalizing the user experience. There are mainly two ways, uninstalling unnecessary software (whenever possible because some applications are part of the system or it is not possible) or failing that, betting on better alternatives to those provided by Microsoft.
Alternatives to the default Windows 11 apps
Web navigator
Edge is the default browser of Windows 11 and Microsoft insists on its use in a tiresome way and with controversial methods. Although with the Chromium treatment, Edge has become the best development of its kind, the vast majority of users prefer other developments as the market share shows. The alternatives are clear and forceful, starting with the leader Google Chromegoing through Mozilla Firefox and ending with the rest that Opera heads.
File Browser
Microsoft has revamped a must-have app for any PC, which lacked features like tabs that others had for decades. But there are others that are still better like File Apps, available for free in the Microsoft Store and offering better organization and greater customization. Supports tabs, multi-pane and tree views, labels, compact overlay, custom themes, and much more. It can work alternatively and also set it to be the default browser.
uninstaller
Windows 11 allows you to uninstall applications (not all) from the Settings tool, from the Control Panel or via the command line. But here third-party solutions win by a landslide in interface and especially in execution. One of them is the free and open source script that doesn’t even need to be installed, Bloatware Removal Tool, and others that we like like O&O AppBuster or the Bulk Crap Uninstaller. There are many of this type to choose from and they will surely be useful to you.
memo pad
Until Windows 10, the official Notepad app was a kind of completely stagnant residue. With Windows 11 Microsoft renewed it, although it is still far from what others offer. Certainly, many users do not ask for much more from a text editor as basic as this one, but if you are one of the most demanding, try Notepad++ and you will see what you are missing. It is an open source editor with support for multiple programming languages, syntax highlighting, rich format support, for plugins and more.
Imagen editor
Microsoft has also renewed its Paint for Windows 11, but the changes are more cosmetic and usability than functional. It’s still a basic editor and easy to use, but whoever needs more, without having to reach for the big solutions like Photoshop or Gimp, is spoiled for choice. The one we like the most among the free ones is Paint.NET. Very complete, it allows editing, manipulation, photo adjustments and even drawing tools. It features a large user community, tutorials, and extensive support for additional plugins.
Media player
After the fiascos of Groove Music and Movies and TV, Microsoft has produced a new version of the classic Media Player updated with a ‘modern’ design. It looks good, but it is still under development and is missing features. In this group of alternatives to the default applications of Windows 11 stands out vlc media player, one of the great world references as a multimedia player and framework. Free and open source software, it supports all kinds of codecs, works on desktop and mobile systems and is distributed under the GPLv2.1+ license.
Start Menu
It seems incredible that we have to continue talking about this component with how well resolved it was in Windows 7 and previous systems. Microsoft incomprehensibly made life difficult with its removal in Windows 8 and although it re-implemented it and has been improving it, users are still looking for alternatives because they have not found a menu as consistent as the one in Windows 7. For the occasion we highlight open-shell, the open source variant of the well-known Classic-Shell. Another one that we like is Start11, surely the best alternative start menu of the existing ones, but it is commercial software with a price of 7 euros.
anti virus
Microsoft has done a good job in recent years to improve the integrated security solution that it offers for free in Windows and today Microsoft Defender may be enough protection for a good part of users. But the big cybersecurity specialists also offer free versions of their solutions and in our opinion, they are still more capable than the integrated solution. The one we like the most is Kaspersky Freeavailable for Windows, Android and iOS, free and with the technology of one of the greats in computer security.
Compressed files and ISOs
Windows 11 Explorer can unzip ZIP files, but in a very limited way. If you work with these types of formats, you will need a third-party application with greater capacity. In this group we highlight 7-zip, free and open source software, which uses its own ‘7z’ file format by default, although it supports others such as ZIP and RAR for both decompression and compression and is available for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows systems. As for the ISO format, Windows does not stand out in its support either and you have to go to specialized applications such as WinCDEmuone of the ones we like the most for its simplicity and capacity.
System information
Windows 11 offers information about the installed hardware, but in a basic way. If you need something more informative and detailed of its components, you can go for something like Speccy, which in addition to an attractive user interface, shows information about the motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, connected displays and other additions such as software updates and installed security services. There is a lot of good stuff in this field and another one we like is HWMonitor, which informs about the hardware, although it is specialized in monitoring in real time the controls of those aspects that show the health of the PC.
Task Manager
It has been one of the most improved system tools in Windows 11/10, but if you need more, we recommend Process Hacker which, in addition to being free, is open source and has a portable version that does not require installation. Monitor system resources, detect malware and perform behavior analysis. It displays processes in a color-coded hierarchical tree, making it easy to identify and right-click to kill, debug, virtualize, or access their properties.
Calculator
Most users may not need an alternative to Windows Calculator, but there are other more efficient and feature-packed ones. speedcrunch is a third-party scientific calculator with a keyboard-driven user interface. You can type any calculation and it will display the result as you type. It allows you to reuse your previous inputs and results, includes customizable syntax highlighting to identify errors, supports over 80 built-in math functions, and its formula book has over 150 constants.
Screenshot
Snipping Tool is the Windows screen capture tool and for many it is insufficient. As in the other sections there are alternatives such as a ShareX Packed with features, custom actions, OCR, screen recording (GIF and video) and more. You can capture a region, a window, a full screen, etc. Another alternative that we like is Greenshot, also free.
