Backbyrner

Out of Date List: http://www.backbyrner.com/blog/post/2018/11/21/Top-13-Free-Windows-Applications

Interesting to see how in the space of three years how much can still change in the mature windows applications ecosystem, but there are several key new programs to call out.

1. Office application: Libre Office. [No change here, still awesome]
   - Works with all Microsoft Office Files (Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc.)    
   https://www.libreoffice.org/
   
   
2. Browser: Firefox [CHANGE]
   - This is a change.  I had recomended Vivaldi (https://vivaldi.com/) but there were some rendering and weirdness that I encountered using it.  Firefox has gone up in my list now.  Its improved its privacy, security and rendering and speed.  I really like it.
   https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
   
   
3. Music listening application: MediaMonkey [CHANGE]
   I tried everything… EVERYTHING.  And none of the players do everything right.  The closest actually is GROOVE by MS, however it won’t let you export playlists into MPU files which is ridiculous.  Some don’t make playlist editing easy.  Some abstract your library with an intelligent db/ai which usually sucks.  But the closest to getting everything right is MediaMonkey.  Plays everything.
   https://www.mediamonkey.com/
   
   
4. Password Keeper: Keepass [No change here, still awesome]
   - Gives you 100% control of your passwords.  Nothing up on someone else’s cloud.  Although you can set it up to be stored up on the cloud if YOU want, but otherwise its all local and under your control.
   https://keepass.info/
   
   
5. Zip (archive) manager: 7-zip [No change here, still awesome]
   - does everything just the way you want it.
   https://www.7-zip.org/
   
   
6. Image editor: Paint.net  (Paint Dot Net)  Although GIMP is soooo close.
   Paint dot Net is just so easy and quick and gets most things done so well.  But if I am going to be doing something more like a project, I’ll fire up GIMP for that. So a virtual tie, one for quick work and one for project work.
   https://www.getpaint.net/index.html
   https://www.gimp.org/
   
   
7. Video Editor: ShotCut [CHANGE]
   So I was using OpenShot at first, but it started crashing.  I found ShotCut and haven’t looked back.  It does everything you could want in a full featured video editor and is getting better with every release.
   https://www.shotcut.org/
   
   
8. Markdown Rich Text Editor: Typora – [NEW]
   Do you hate editing Markdown, I do, it sucks.  This little app will fix all your problems.  Handles all the MD editing for you in in a perfect WYSIWYG editor.
   https://typora.io/
   
   
9. Audio Track Editor: Audacity
   - This app has been around for a long time and has steadily been improved.
   https://www.audacityteam.org/
   
   
10. Notepad replacement: Notepad++
    https://notepad-plus-plus.org/
    Just about the most useful tool on the list.
    
    
11. Command line (enhancement) tool enhancer ConEmu
    https://conemu.github.io/
    - taking a bit of time to set this up and it is awesome.
    
    
12. Developer environment: Visual Studio Code
    - by Microsoft but free and awesome.
    
    
13. Video transcoder (video file format converter): HandBrake
    https://handbrake.fr/downloads.php