You know the drill, [M]Lemmings…
I want to share TypingMasterPro cuz it is the program that helped me learn to type 2x over (QWERTY than DVORAK)
Off you go!
I will forever recommend VoidTools’ Everything ever since someone first introduced it to me some few years ago.
It indexes your entire filesystem and allows you to search for files by name (and by content for text files!) and even allowing RegEx searching for file names, and filters for certain file types and the like.
How is it different than switching to Enhanced search in Windows settings?
It uses an index that really works and doesn’t take ages.
It’s what search should have been if the windows indexer was written correctly
Thanks for the info.
I work at a computer repair shop, Everything is a game changer
Not sure if a hidden gem or not, but WingetUI is pretty handy. You can manage software in winget, scoop, chocolatey, pip, npm and .net with a graphics interface.
I didn’t know that it could do pip, or npm, so it’s a hidden gem for me, thanks :)
If I want parameters like silentInstall, can it generate that for me?
I believe WingetUI already runs in silent mode, it suppresses most windows in my experience. You can define parameters for individual packages, but not globally as far as I know, you’d have to check the documentation or their github to be sure.
I meant it more as a command generator, so I could create my own scripts with the tool.
Might look into it if it could do that for me.Nah, it manages packages but that’s about it. It’s a very straightforward software.
Definitely PowerToys, there’s some great utilities in there like a Spotlight-esque search/launch bar or a tool to rename multiple files at once.
EarTrumpet is great, too, being basically an enhanced version of the standard audio mixer that lets you change audio devices quickly.
My favourite Windows-only app is probably Foobar2000, though, it’s an endlessly customisable music player with hundreds of plug-ins for nearly every conceivable use case. It takes a while to set up but once you do there’s nothing better.
Deadbeef is getting there, but yeah it is still missing features: https://imgur.com/rBeurjO.png
foobar2000
Strawberry is very similar and is free/open source.
I’ve used Strawberry before but it didn’t really work for me to be honest…
TerraCopy and FreeCommander. Fuck Windows Explorer.
TreeSize has saved me a lot of bytes over the years. Performant and visually slick. I would prefer a FOSS utility, though. Apparently, reading other comments here, there isn’t an actively maintained one that isn’t garbage. Oh well.
Procmon has gotten me out of a couple binds. Task Manager can only do so much for you. I’ve always been dubious of people who deify Task Manager as some ultimate authority of the OS that kicks ass and takes no prisoners, as I’ve run into several problems it couldn’t solve for me. Procmon feels like the real version of that mythic Task Manager. The main thing it can do which Task Manager (to my knowledge) cannot do that I’ve needed several times is detect which running processes have a lock on a given file, so I can kill them.
KeePassXC is KeePass2, but not sinfully ugly. It’s FOSS and equally functional as the program it aims to supplant, but it’s also multiplatform (so I can use it on Linux without Mono!) and it looks like it actually has a design philosophy developed by someone who knows a thing or two about UX design. Also, it lets you auto bulk download favicons for all of your key entries. With KeePass2 I had to do that manually one by one. I was happy to do it then thinking the program was worth it, but now that I know there’s a better way I feel like an idiot for putting up with it for as long as I did.
Also, just a short rant: I am so glad Windows finally has a native OpenSSH implementation that ships with the OS. Because that means good fucking riddance to PuTTY and WinSPC. I appreciate them having been there to be our secure and stable options for SSH and FTP/SFTP clients on Windows over the years. But now that I can finally do those things in the terminal with standard cross-platform tools, I no longer have to use their ugly, clumsy GUIs, their stupid .ppk key format, or WinSCP’s cryptic command line args ever again, and I couldn’t be happier.
I’ve needed several times is detect which running processes have a lock on a given file,
I used to use procman but there is a power toy for that now. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/file-locksmith
Foobar2000, it is the only windows app that I miss.
Deadbeef is close but it is missing several features, it can’t even encode using more than 1 cpu core lol.
Not technically a program altho it can be, I recommend Privacy.sexy for mass-configuring the best settings for your respective platform (Windows/Linux/MacOS). And there are LOTS of settings to configure for Windows it seems altho thats the case as well for Mac and I can’t speak to Linux
I use IPFilter Updater for Bit Torrent programs.
It updates a block list that blocks out bad actors and trackers, so there’s a bigger chance you can sail the seas in peace.
For video, virtualdub2 and avisynth. Avisynth let’s you handle video as if it were a variable in a program. This lets you do things impossible with a regular video editor.
Ooh AviSynth looks really neat, I am definitely going to play around with that. Thanks for the heads up.
Pretty sure WinSCP is the best SCP/FTP client on any platform.
Didn’t try it with FTP since I use FileZilla.
Did you compare it and can say why one is superior?
MobaXTerm.
Makes dealing with lots of servers, be them Linux or Windows, much easier.
Honourable mention to Right PDF reader for helping me with previous study too. It’s had a name change but it includes enough features in its free version that makes it very good for reading and marking up longwinded academic studies.
KeepassXC with browser plugins
Notepad++
ShareX for super easy and configurable screen shotting and recording
Espanso text expander
Everything for search
Wox for quick launching
Hard to call n++ a hidden gem.
I guess it depends on the circles one resides in. Figured I’d include it for any people that come across this post that may not have heard of it.
Fair point.
I like Joystick2Mouse. It’s a very highly configurable program that allows you to use a game controller to emulate mouse and keyboard actions.
My favorite hidden gem has to be ear trumpet (https://eartrumpet.app/). It gives you quick access to changing app volume without going through multiple clicks.
SkiFree
Space Cadet Pinball
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