Ask HN: What Windows apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?

by wizerno on 6/10/2024, 6:05:56 AM with 2 comments
Inspired by a similar post on macOS [1].

So, what applications do you use daily on Windows and why do you love it?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40627395

  • by crypt0sploit on 6/10/2024, 6:33:44 AM

    - Joplin - Note-taking, markdown, engineering homework (katex)

    - Next-Web - OpenAI/LLM API based Chat UI with image input (fast, reliable) https://github.com/ChatGPTNextWeb/ChatGPT-Next-Web

    - WSL - Very handy when you need to quicky run Unix commands and also test some linux stuff

    - Slack - MS Teams alternative

  • by daviddever23box on 6/10/2024, 7:49:19 AM

    DISCLAIMER: this list is x64-centric, and your results may vary under arm64 environments.

    ---

    PACKAGE AUTOMATION

    - Windows Package Manager "winget" command-line tool (winget.exe): https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli

    On both Windows 10 and 11, every application and system package on my devices gets batch-installed, as winget import --import-file {{JSON-file}}, when possible. One can also export a list of installed packages for automation purposes.

    Winget is shipped as a component of the App Installer package, which is supplied by default under Windows 11 but is an optional installation for Windows 10.

    ---

    DRIVER AUTOMATION

    - Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM.exe): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufactu...

    I use this a lot, as dism /online /export-driver /destination:{{output-directory}}, mainly to manage exported driver packages post-Windows Update that are subsequently cherry-picked (latest active, installed version only), stored on a USB-C thumb drive, and pre-installed into a neutral OS (in Windows Audit Mode, using Ctrl-Shift-F3), via PnPUtil, for clean-machine testing.

    - PnPUtil (PnPUtil.exe): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/d...

    As an example, I leverage the exported driver packages from above to one-click install them via a one-line batch command (in Windows Audit Mode, using Ctrl-Shift-F3 on first launch) for neutral-installation, clean-machine testing.

    ---

    Automation is key to getting things done, and reproducible environments are a necessity, especially when performing regression testing across various Windows OS build versions.

    The combination of DISM and PnPUtil is now fast enough that I actually no longer bother using WinPE to capture and flash system images, or setting up DISM to inject the drivers into an existing image. Time is money and personal sanity.

    ---

    SCREEN CALIBRATION

    - DisplayCAL: https://github.com/eoyilmaz/displaycal-py3

    Every display panel I own (whether portable, laptop, all-in-one desktop, 4K monitor or other) gets a clean-room measurement under daylight (5000K) lamps with an X-Rite i1D3HL OEM colorimeter (e.g., CALIBRITE ColorChecker Display, et al), generating an ICC profile that can then be loaded into Windows Color Management at any later date.

    Color calibration makes a huge optical quality-of-life improvement, with the occasional use of an adaptive grey-scale filter (to minimize color distraction, as well as to verify grey-scale compatibility and contrast) a close second.

    This repo accommodates the changes required to run with Python 3 support.

    ---

    DIAGNOSTICS

    - REALIX HWiNFO: https://www.hwinfo.com/

    HWiNFO provides "more info about your computer than you'll ever need", which is nonetheless incredibly useful. I've been using this for years.