Best free apps you should use on your new Windows 11 PC

The Best Apps in the Windows 11 Store in 2024

The latest version of Microsoft Windows OS is finally here and lots of users already upgraded to Windows 11 version 23H2 to experience the brand new features and improvements. Even Windows 11 comes with a number of new features that minimize the need of third-party apps, But still, there are many ways you can improve Windows 11 by using third-party apps. And here in this post, we have collected some of the most downloaded or best Windows 11 apps you should use in 2024.

Best app For photo or video editing on Windows 11

If you are looking for a best image editor or video editor on your Windows 11 computer Here are some of the best options for you:

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GIMP Free & Open Source Image Editor

GIMP: is a classic for image editing that can work as an alternative to Adobe’s Photoshop, although it has a somewhat steep learning curve. This is one of the best Free & Open Source Image Editor for GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows and more operating systems. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer or illustrator, GIMP has sophisticated tools to get your job done.

Paint.NET – Free Software for Digital Photo Editing

Paint.net If GIMP seems too complicated to you, with the good old Paint.net you have everything you need for simple and relatively complex editions and it is much easier to use. It is another open source Free image and photo editing software for Windows PC that features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools

PhotoScape X: Free Photo Editing Software

PhotoScape X: Its another all in one free photo editing software for Windows 11 that provides photo-related features such as Photo Viewer, Editor, Cut Out, Batch, Collage, Combine, Create GIF, Color Picker, Screen Capture, RAW images and More. If you want something even simpler but also modern and well thought out to add filters, edit RAW photos, and even create GIFs and collages, the free version of PhotoScape is a great option.

Polarr Photo Editor for Windows 11

Polarr – If you’re interested in digital RAW image development and a good simple editor alternative to Lightroom, Polarr is a great option.

Krita professional FREE and open source painting program

Krita: if digital illustration is your thing, few free and open source options are as complete and good as Krita, which also released a tremendous update recently.

DaVinci Resolve The Best Free Video Editor

DaVinci Resolve –  If you are looking for the best free video editor for windows 11 then DaVinci Resolve is one of the best professional and most powerful video editors loaded with advanced features which offer a free version with virtually no limitations. It combines editing, color correction, visual effects, motion graphics and audio post production all in one software tool.

Microsoft Office alternative for Windows 11

No doubt Microsoft Office is the most widely used office productivity suite, designed to help with productivity and completing common tasks on a computer. But If you can’t afford to buy, here are some popular alternatives to Microsoft Office that offer their own versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

WPS Office – Free Office Suite

WPS Office: if you want more complete dedicated applications with great compatibility with doc, xls, ppt and more; this alternative is a pretty good one.  It has a built-in PDF converter, auto spell-check, multiple document tabs and document encryption. And You can download WPS Office for Windows, Linux and Android devices for free.

LibreOffice – Free Office Suite

LibreOffice: If you prefer something open source and don’t need to master programs 100% overnight, LibreOffice is also a great alternative to Microsoft office. LibreOffice is compatible with Microsoft word processing, presentation, spreadsheet and publisher file extensions; it also uses the Open Document Format (ODF) for maximum compatibility.

SoftMaker FreeOffice suite

FreeOffice:  Developed by SoftMaker, FreeOffice is a complete office suite that is free to use and available for both windows and linux users. The program is fully compatible with all Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats, which means you can not only view but also save files in formats such as DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX. It offers a word processor (TextMaker), presentation tool (Presentations), and spreadsheet tool (PlanMaker).

Free cloud-based office suites

Also, there are some free Cloud-based office suites are accessible from any internet-connected device. All files are stored on the cloud, you can access them at any time on any browser, eliminating the need to download and install programs on your computer. And in most cases, they can be more than enough and many of those who pass do not miss anything

Some of the most popular cloud-based office suites are Microsoft’s own office.com which allows users save, edit, and store files, and collaborate in real time via web browser. The service also has sharing capabilities; you can create unique links to files or directly insert documents, spreadsheets, and presentations into your website or blog.

Again Google’s productivity and cloud storage platform also allow users to create, edit and collaborate on all types of files. It includes the Google Docs word processor, Sheets spreadsheet editor, Slides presentation maker, the Google Forms form maker, Google Calendar and other products.

Zoho Docs is another all-in-one solution offers an online productivity suite and file storage, sharing, and management platform you can create, manage, share and publish files using Zoho’s Writer, Sheet, and Show programs. Then, you can invite other users to collaborate, as well as assign tasks to track progress.

Best Messenger service for Windows 11

Maybe you knew it or maybe you didn’t, but Windows 11 has its own optimized versions of apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. In addition, to heavyweights like Zoom, the Microsoft team recently arrived at the new Microsoft Store.

WhatsApp Messenger

WhatsApp: WhatsApp is one of the most popular chat and instant messaging applications. Typically, people use this app on mobile devices, but with the new Windows version, you can finally access chats straight from your desktop messenger. It works completely natively on Windows and is no longer web-based, making it consume much less RAM on our computer, a great advantage over the previous version.

Telegram Messenger

Telegram: For some, it is the option to WhatsApp and soon you will also have a new application optimized for Windows 11. You can contact others via messages, share content and media, and maintain groups of up to 200,000 individuals.

Zoom One Platform to Connect

Zoom: It’s one of the leading platforms for setting up virtual meetings, video conferences, direct messages, and collaboration tasks. You can find it from the Microsoft Store only on Windows 11, it is exactly the same classic win32 version that you can download as .exe on their website. The application is free to use but if you are interested in using additional features a subscription option is there.

Discord Your Place to Talk and Hang Out

Discord – Its another free chat application originally created for gaming group communication and has developed into a center for all individuals to gather in private channels with their friends. It also landed on the Windows 11 Microsoft Store recently and you can download it from there or from the official website.

Best entertainment apps

Although streaming services like Netflix have offered their apps through the Microsoft Store for years. Versions of Disney + and Prime Video have also been released not long ago, with the great advantage that they let you see the content in 4K and HDR. For everything else…

VLC Free multimedia solutions for all OS

VLC – One of the most popular free and open source cross-platform multimedia players for Windows 11 that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It’s the most legendary video player out there, and for the first time, its full and classic version appears on the Microsoft Store. If you’re using Windows 11, you just need to search for ” VLC win32 ” to find it.

Spotify Music for everyone

Spotify is one of the best entertainment apps for Windows 11. You can use Spotify’s Web Player on a browser but the Spotify app on the Microsoft Store is an excellent choice. The Spotify app is excellent for users who prefer Spotify for music and have its premium subscription too. All in all, we recommend using Spotify if you listen to a lot of music on your Windows machine.

Plexamp – Love your music

Plexamp – If you’re one of those people who have music files on your computer and don’t just rely on streaming, Plexamp is one of the coolest players around today. Modern and feature-laden for audiophiles and music lovers… and a bit of a hipster too. It’s from the same folks as the Plex media manager.

Kodi Open Source Home Theater Software

Kodi – And if we are going to talk about media centers, Kodi is perhaps the quintessential name in that aspect, it offers an extremely complete solution for almost all needs.

some additional tools

  • ExplorerPatcher: It is used to return all the lost functions of the taskbar, including being able to move it around.
  • Stardock Star11 – Bring back the old classic Windows 10 Start Menu on Windows 11
  • Files v2 – An alternative file explorer that has almost everything it takes to be better than Windows 11 Explorer itself.

  • NanaZip – A modern fork of 7-Zip that does integrate into the new right-click menu in Windows 11.
  • PowerToys: the tools for Windows power users that I never tire of recommending to everyone. They offer all sorts of interesting enhancements and are constantly evolving.
  • Internet Download Manager – Best Download Manager for Windows 11
  • KDE Connect – Best File Transfer Windows app

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Steve Ballmer
With over 7 years of experience in the IT industry, I have experience in IT support, helpdesk, sysadmin, network admin, and cloud computing. Certified in Microsoft Technologies (MCTS and MCSA) and also Cisco Certified Professional in Routing and Switching.
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