Each 5 years or so, I make a listing of the apps I exploit most continuously. It is at all times fascinating to see how the listing has modified over time, and it often says one thing concerning the computing panorama. After I did that train this yr, I used to be astonished on the modifications.
Half of the apps I used five years ago are not on my listing in any respect in 2025. They have been changed, typically, by apps which can be tightly linked with web-based providers and cloud storage and might run on any desktop, laptop computer, or cellular system.
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Seven of the ten apps I exploit each day supply totally practical free variations, usually with paid choices to unlock further options or to take away some utilization limits. Of the eight apps I pay for, none nonetheless supply a conventional perpetual license, favoring a subscription mannequin as a substitute. I do know that is a hot-button problem for some readers, who’re adamant about their distaste for paying month-to-month or annual charges. I want the predictability of those arrangements as a substitute of the large jolt to the funds that comes with main upgrades. And I am additionally comfortable to assist unbiased builders.
The most important shock for me is how a lot much less I exploit the Microsoft 365 desktop apps (previously generally known as Microsoft Workplace). If it weren’t for Excel, I am undecided that I’d nonetheless be keen to pay for my Microsoft 365 subscription. I’ve stopped utilizing OneNote fully, and I exploit Phrase rather a lot lower than I used to. I lastly acquired uninterested in Quicken, Spotify, and Adobe Acrobat, all of which had simple replacements.
After all, this choice displays my work habits and my private preferences. Your wants are undoubtedly completely different, so your listing will not be the identical as mine. I encourage you to share your favorites within the feedback part beneath.
1. Microsoft Edge
A contemporary browser has one job: to render webpages that work as they had been designed to work. Given the realities of the fashionable internet, meaning a browser that is based mostly on the de facto customary, utilizing code from the open-source Chromium project. For most individuals, the apparent alternative is Google’s Chrome browser, however you can even select one other Chromium-based browser: Microsoft Edge, or Brave, or Vivaldi, or one of these even more obscure options. I’ve used Microsoft’s model, Edge, for 5 years, and see no purpose to change now.
Additionally: I made Microsoft Edge my default browser because of these three killer features
The present iteration of the Microsoft Edge browser is, so far as most web sites are involved, simply one other occasion of Google Chrome, with assist for all of the extensions written for that juggernaut. However three options which can be constructed into Edge are sufficient to make me snug utilizing it as my default browser. A very powerful is Monitoring Prevention (proven right here), which stops a good quantity of on-line surveillance and serves as an efficient advert blocker. I can not think about seeing this applied in Chrome.
Turning on Strict monitoring prevention in Edge blocks an incredible quantity of intrusive exercise.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
The opposite two killer Edge options for me are vertical tabs, a function that makes it doable to differentiate what’s on every webpage even you probably have dozens of tabs open, and the immersive reader, which strips away litter from a web page so you may focus on the content material. (For extra particulars, see “I made Microsoft Edge my default browser because of these three killer features.” )
I nonetheless make a copy of Chrome put in on my Home windows desktop, however I hardly ever run right into a web page that requires me to change. I additionally use Edge on my MacBook Professional and on iOS and Android, with historical past and favorites synced throughout all these platforms.
2. 1Password
- Function: Password administration
- Value: Subscription-based. Particular person, $3 a month; Household (5 customers), $5 a month; Crew and Enterprise plans obtainable
- Data: 1Password
After I arrange a brand new PC, Mac, or cellular system, the very first thing I set up, with out exception, is the 1Password app and its companion browser extension. (For a full assessment, see: 1Password: My favorite password manager is an essential security tool.)
Additionally: I replaced my Microsoft account password with a passkey – and you should, too
It has each function you anticipate from this class of software program, together with a sturdy password generator that may create and save actually random, unguessable credentials, assist for two-factor authentication, and the flexibility to create and sync passkeys throughout a number of gadgets. I’ve a household plan ($5 a month, billed yearly), which makes it simple for my spouse and me to maintain particular person credentials in addition to a shared vault for providers we entry with a single account.
1Password can be obtainable as an app for iOS, Android, MacOS, and Home windows and makes use of the identical synced, encrypted database for all platforms.
I am snug with permitting 1Password to retailer and sync my encrypted password recordsdata. As a result of it is a zero-knowledge structure, nobody on the firm has entry to the contents of these encrypted recordsdata; that knowledge can solely be opened utilizing my distinctive native password, accompanied by the encryption key.)
3. Workona
- Function: Tab administration
- Value: Subscription-based. Free, with limits; Professional plan $7 a month, Crew and Enterprise plans obtainable
- Data: Workona
By any cheap customary, I’ve too many browser tabs open proper now. However I do not care, as a result of I’ve a secret weapon that helps me maintain these tabs underneath management — a service known as Workona. I have been a paid subscriber for greater than 5 years, and it is turn out to be an indispensable a part of my on-line toolkit (see “Too many browser tabs? This impressive extension is my favorite solution.”)
Workona permits me to arrange tabs, bookmarks, notes, and duties into teams known as areas that sync throughout gadgets; I can share areas with group members, and join cloud-based productiveness providers (like Slack and GitHub) to increase the capabilities of an area. I apply it to Microsoft Edge, however it’s additionally obtainable as an extension on Chrome and Firefox on all main desktop platforms.
Additionally: I use Edge as my default browser – but its new AI mode is unreliable and annoying
The free version of Workona limits the variety of areas and sources you may create, however it may be ok in case your wants are modest. I pay $7 a month for a Professional plan that provides me limitless areas for a single consumer and some other useful features, comparable to Google Drive integration. Crew and Enterprise editions are additionally obtainable.
At any given time, I might need greater than a half-dozen areas open, every in its personal browser session. On Edge, these areas combine with tab teams, so I can shortly transfer tabs between areas. Better of all, if a browser crashes or I must restart my laptop, I can reopen all these tabs shortly with out dropping any work. I can not think about working with out it.
4. Obsidian
- Function: Textual content editor
- Value: Free, with subscription-based sync and publish choices obtainable
- Data: Obsidian
For a few years, Microsoft Phrase was my major textual content editor. It was completely important within the days when at the least half of what I wrote was destined to be printed in e book type, with in depth formatting and a deal with web page structure. Nowadays, although, nearly every thing I write is printed on-line — as a webpage or a publication. For these makes use of, Phrase is overkill, and its formatting is usually as a lot of a hindrance as a assist.
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My longtime colleague Mary Jo Foley would little doubt recommend I exploit Notepad, however that is a bit too barebones for my style, even with recent feature additions. Which is why I now do most of my writing in Obsidian. This easy-to-use app, developed by a small team that began in 2020, makes use of the light-weight Markdown language to create structured paperwork with wealthy formatting that may be saved as textual content recordsdata. It is also a good way to seize and retailer interview notes and snippets of analysis — it is fully taken over that position from OneNote, one other Microsoft Workplace app I used for many years that I not use repeatedly.
I’ve mapped Obsidian hotkeys to some acquainted Phrase shortcuts, and I’ve additionally put in a plugin that provides outlining capabilities to my paperwork. It is all remarkably simple. (The Obsidian neighborhood has created thousands of plugins.)
Obsidian’s structure helps plug-ins, so you may add options like an outliner.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
Obsidian will not be open supply, however it has a sturdy plugin mannequin that enables third-party builders to increase its options. This system itself is free, with no limits. I pay $8 a month (billed yearly) for optional add-on services that enable me to sync as much as 10 vaults and 10 GB of storage throughout gadgets, with a revision historical past of 12 months. There’s additionally an choice to make use of Obsidian as a back-end for a easy web site.
5. deck.blue
- Function: Bluesky feed administration
- Value: Free. Superior options obtainable with membership, $2 a month
- Data: deck.blue
Earlier than Twitter modified its title and have become a conceit challenge for the political obsessions of the world’s richest man, it was an important supply of knowledge and a solution to construct communities. It was additionally a firehose of knowledge, and the one smart solution to maintain monitor of that torrent of tweets and threads and lists was with the assistance of an app like TweetDeck, which turned a subscribers-only function known as X Professional in 2023.
Additionally: How to migrate from X to Bluesky without losing your followers
I’ve since changed Twitter with Bluesky, which follows most of the similar consumer expertise conventions nearly as good ol’ Twitter and may be simply as overwhelming. To get probably the most worth out of Bluesky, you must comply with a whole lot or hundreds of accounts, which might flip your property web page right into a river that flows so quick no human can sustain utilizing the web-based app.
The answer is a third-party web-based app known as deck.blue, which helps you to slice and cube your feed into completely different views, every contained in its personal column. Like TweetDeck, it means that you can present lists in columns and has a sturdy set of choices for filtering undesirable content material. You’ll be able to run deck.blue in a browser or do as I do and set up it as a progressive internet app. It is free, however I pay $2 a month for a membership that unlocks assist for a number of accounts; it additionally pays the developer, Gildásio Filho, for whom it is a full-time job.
6. NewsBlur
- Function: RSS reader
- Value: Free, open supply. Premium subscriptions, beginning at $36 a yr, unlock some superior options
- Data: NewsBlur
They instructed you RSS was lifeless. I’m right here to let you know that is not precisely true. The RSS feed may be very a lot alive, albeit not fairly as vigorous as in its heyday, earlier than the Google Reader app was abruptly discontinued. (If you happen to’ve by no means heard old-timers discuss of Google Reader, here is my obituary from 2013: Embrace, extend, extinguish: How Google crushed and abandoned the RSS industry)
RSS is brief for Actually Easy Syndication, a typical that enables publishers to create “feeds” which you could learn in an app that understands RSS. Amazingly, many massive web sites nonetheless assist RSS, which makes cross-platform apps like NewsBlur extremely helpful. It is obtainable as an internet app on the desktop and as a local app on iOS and Android, and its function listing is genuinely spectacular.
Look, ma, no electronic mail! All of those articles had been delivered utilizing RSS feeds, serving to my inbox keep uncluttered.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
I exploit NewsBlur to maintain monitor of all kinds of knowledge. The RSS feed for Microsoft’s Windows Blog, for instance, makes it simple to trace new Home windows Insider builds. To remain in contact with Apple information, I comply with John Gruber’s Daring Fireball. The New York Instances and the Washington Publish have RSS feeds, and a few actually enlightened publishers like Talking Points Memo even have members-only feeds, so paying subscribers (like me) can learn posts in a local app as a substitute of subscribing to an electronic mail publication. That, to me, is the most important benefit of NewsBlur — serving to to maintain litter out of my Inbox.
7. Microsoft Excel
- Function: Charts, spreadsheets, and lists
- Value: Included with Microsoft 365 Private, Household, and Enterprise subscriptions: $100 a yr and up
- Data: Microsoft 365
For greater than 25 years, the 4 desktop apps that make up the core of what was Microsoft Workplace had been a completely important a part of my working day. (I even wrote a half-dozen books about them!) That has all modified previously few years.
Outlook (Basic) continues to be the primary app I open within the morning, however Microsoft says I’m going to have to change to Outlook (New) ultimately, and with out freely giving my emotions concerning the alternative, I can let you know I’m trying critically at options. I open Phrase a couple of times every week, principally for stories, letters, and invoices, and use Obsidian for every thing else text-related. I usually stumble by PowerPoint a couple of times a yr, at most.
Additionally: How to create a drop-down list in Excel and save yourself hours of time
However I exploit Excel each day. I exploit it to research knowledge and create charts, like those on this article about why those “Windows 11 market share” numbers aren’t reliable. I exploit it for lists, easy and complicated, and to check merchandise earlier than making main purchases. I lastly acquired uninterested in utilizing Quicken and discovered maintain monitor of my private and enterprise funds in a group of spreadsheets that might make my late father, a CPA, proud.
The net model of Excel is free, however I pay $12.50 a month for a Microsoft 365 Enterprise Customary subscription that features Excel and all the opposite desktop Workplace apps, plus an Alternate On-line license, and 1 TB of OneDrive for Enterprise storage.
8. VLC Media Participant
VLC Media Participant is a free, open supply software that may play almost any audio or video file, no matter its format. It has been round without end, maintained by the nonprofit VideoLAN organization, based mostly in France. I wrote about it almost a decade in the past, when it was the perfect free alternative DVD player in the marketplace, and at present it handles each bodily and streaming codecs with aplomb. It does not require downloading dodgy codec packs to work, and it runs on each conceivable platform.
I have never touched a DVD or a Blu-ray disk in ages, however I nonetheless have a group of saved video recordsdata, that I often wish to watch, and that is the perfect software for the job.
On Home windows PCs, be sure to obtain and set up the full Windows package. That model can be available in the Microsoft Store; simply keep away from the outdated, limited-feature VLC UWP app. The best solution to set up it’s with the built-in winget package deal supervisor. If you happen to’re snug at a command line, simply sort this: winget set up videolan.vlc.
9. MediaMonkey 2024
- Function: Music organizing and taking part in
- Value: Free; $40 improve to Gold version unlocks premium options
- Data: MediaMonkey
Regardless of the convenience of streaming tunes from providers like Apple Music and YouTube Music, I nonetheless have a considerable private music assortment in digital format. Among the tracks in that assortment are copies ripped from previous CDs that are not obtainable on any industrial service. Others are dwell recordings, obtained immediately from the artist or from authorized on-line providers and likewise unavailable for streaming. With a bit further effort, I can add these recordsdata to the cloud, however I nonetheless must handle them regionally.
For these tunes, MediaMonkey 2024 (obtainable on Home windows and Android, however not MacOS or iOS) is an indispensable software. Its built-in participant handles nearly any audio or video file, together with lossless music tracks in FLAC and ALAC codecs, in a vogue that is extra organized than the one-track-at-a-time VLC. It might rip CDs, stream music to exterior gadgets, mechanically tag MP3 recordsdata and add album artwork, and even sync tracks with my iPhone and Android gadgets. The free Customary model is completely succesful, however I paid the $40 improve value to get pleasure from quite a lot of very useful advanced features within the Gold version.
10. Snagit 2024
- Function: Screenshots and display recordings
- Value: Subscription-based, $39 per yr
- Data: Snagit
Truthfully, I’m not positive after I started utilizing TechSmith’s Snagit to seize, crop, and annotate screens for my books and on-line posts. It was positively on the insistence of my e book writer within the earlier century (the corporate and its flagship product have been round since 1990), and it is among the only a few survivors from these years.
The great of us at TechSmith have completed an excellent job of preserving that software program related greater than three a long time later. Each new model will get just a few new options, like the flexibility to seize a fast display video for posting on-line. I am comfortable that I can save screenshots within the cloud service of my alternative, so I can discover that good screenshot with a fast search.
Snagit switched to a subscription mannequin just a few years in the past. The default value of $39 a yr, which permits a subscriber to run the software program on two gadgets, is cheap. As a result of I purchased my licenses years in the past, I am locked right into a legacy plan that is a few third of that value. I will not change.
