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 useless, and all have their counterparts from third-party developers, in most cases free solutions better than installed as we will review in this article.

And we’re talking Windows today about Microsoft’s software with capital letters. The system should have internal tools to perform basic tasks, but Windows 11 (and Windows 10) it’s overkill and the company tries by all means (some questionable) increase your own services. And we’re not talking about Bloatware anymore. 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 a large number of applications from penalizing the user experience, taking up storage or memory resources, reducing performance and stability, and generally penalizing the user experience. There are mainly two ways, uninstall the unnecessary software (whenever possible because some applications are part of the system or it is not possible) or otherwise bet on better alternatives to those provided by Microsoft.

Alternatives to Windows 11 default apps

Web browser

Edge is the default browser in Windows 11, and Microsoft insists on using it in tedious and controversial ways. Although the Chromium modification made Edge the best development of its kind, the vast majority of users prefer other developments, as shown by market share. The alternatives are clear and effective, starting with the leader Google Chromeit goes through Mozilla Firefox and ends up with the rest, which Opera rules.

File browser

Microsoft has redesigned the must-have app for any PC that lacked features like tabs that others have had for decades. But there are others that are still better file applications, available for free in the Microsoft Store and offers better organization and better customization. It supports tabs, multi-panel and tree views, labels, compact overlays, custom themes and much more. It can work alternatively and also set it as default browser.

uninstaller

Windows 11 allows you to uninstall apps (not all) from the Settings tool, from the Control Panel, or using the command line. But here third-party solutions win overwhelmingly in interface and especially in execution. One of them is a free and open source script that doesn’t even need to be installed, Bloatware removal tool, and others we like like O&O AppBuster or Bulk Crap Uninstaller. There are many types of these to choose from and they will surely suit you.

Notepad

Until Windows 10, the official Notepad app was kind of a completely stagnant remnant. With Windows 11, Microsoft has restored this, although it is still far from what others offer. Many users certainly don’t ask for much more from such a basic text editor, but if you’re among the most demanding, try Notepad++ and you’ll see what you’re missing. It is an open source editor with support for multiple programming languages, syntax highlighting, rich support for formats, for plugins and more.

Image editor

Microsoft has also revamped 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 those who need more without having to reach for big solutions like Photoshop or Gimp have plenty to choose from. We like this one the most out of the free ones Paint.NET. Very complete, it allows editing, manipulation, photo editing and even drawing tools. It features a large user community, tutorials, and extensive support for other plugins.

Media player

After the fiascos of Groove Music and Movies and TV, Microsoft created a new version of the classic Media Player updated with a “modern” design. It looks good, but it’s still in development and lacks features. In this group of alternatives to default applications, Windows 11 stands out vlc media player, one of the world’s biggest references as a multimedia player and framework. Free and open source software, supports all kinds of codecs, works on both desktop and mobile systems and is distributed under the GPLv2.1+ license.

Start menu

It seems incredible that we still have to talk about this component with how well it was handled in Windows 7 and previous systems. Microsoft has made life inexplicably difficult by removing it in Windows 8, and although it has been re-implemented and improved, users are still looking for alternatives because they did not find an offer as consistent as the one in Windows 7. Take this opportunity to highlight open-shell, an open source variant of the well-known Classic-Shell. Another one we like is Start11, certainly the best alternative start menu out there, but it’s a commercial software with a price of 7 euros.

antivirus

In recent years, Microsoft has done a good job of improving the integrated security solution that it offers for free in Windows, and today Microsoft Defender can be sufficient protection for a large part of users. But the big cyber security specialists also offer free versions of their solutions, and in our opinion they are still more capable than the integrated solutions. We like him the most Kaspersky freeavailable for Windows, Android and iOS, free and with technology from one of the giants of computer security.

Compressed files and ISOs

Windows 11 Explorer can extract ZIP files, but to a very limited extent. If you work with these types of formats, you will need a third-party application with a larger capacity. In this group we emphasize 7-zip, a free, open source software that 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, even Windows does not stand out in its support and you have to go into specialized applications such as to WinCDEone of the ones we like the most for its simplicity and capacity.

System information

Windows 11 offers information about installed hardware, but in a basic way. If you need something more informative and detailed about its components, you can go for something similar Speccy, which displays information about the motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, connected displays and other extras such as software updates and installed security services in addition to an attractive user interface. There are a lot of good things in this area, and another one we like is HWMonitor, which informs about the hardware, although it specializes in real-time monitoring of the control of those aspects that show the health of the PC.

Task Manager

It was one of the most improved system tools in Windows 11/10, but if you need more, we recommend it 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 behavioral analysis. It displays processes in a color-coded hierarchical tree, so they can be easily identified and killed, debugged, virtualized, or accessed with a right-click.

Calculator

Most users may not need an alternative to the Windows calculator, but there are others that are more efficient and feature-packed. speedcrunch is a third-party scientific calculator with a keyboard-driven user interface. You can enter 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 more than 80 built-in math functions, and its formula book has more than 150 constants.

Screenshot

The Snipping Tool is a 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 an area, a window, the whole screen, etc. Another alternative we like is Greenshot, also free.