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00:00Hey, how's it going? Dave2D here.
00:08So this is a video on 5 free Windows apps that I think everyone should be using.
00:11And this video is a little bit different from the Mac version that I made a couple days ago,
00:15because Windows users have a huge selection of free apps to choose from.
00:20So what I'm going to do is do 5 free apps that I think everyone should be using,
00:23and then list a few more apps that I think are also really good, also free, but are more specialized.
00:28So those may not apply to everyone depending on what you do or don't do.
00:32And as usual, none of these are sponsored because those videos suck.
00:36Okay, first one. It's an antivirus.
00:38I'm the type of person that doesn't use an antivirus because I'm an idiot,
00:41but I'm just comfortable formatting frequently, so I'm okay with it.
00:46But for most people who are not stupid, you should run an antivirus.
00:49My two favorite are AVG and Avast, or A-V-A-S-T.
00:53There's a site called AV-Test.
00:55They're an independent site that tests antivirus really extensively,
00:58and then they update their ranking list.
01:00So in terms of the free ones, AVG and A-V-A-S-T are always near the top.
01:04This A-H-N thing is up there as well, but it's a paid software, so screw that guy.
01:09With the current builds, Avast does a better job at detecting current malware,
01:13but AVG is slightly less taxing on your system.
01:16You really can't go wrong with either of them.
01:18I prefer performance, so if I had to choose, I'd go with AVG.
01:21If you're wondering, Microsoft Windows Defender isn't perfect for detection,
01:25and when it's running, there's a measurable performance hit.
01:28Next up, we have a clipboard manager called Ditto.
01:31These are apps that kind of store all the stuff you copy using Ctrl-C.
01:35So if you copy a selection of text, and then later on you copy more text,
01:38Ditto stores it all into a clipboard manager.
01:41Really useful for essays, development, and just about anything.
01:44If you've never used one before, install it.
01:46They're very lightweight and pretty useful.
01:48Alright, next up is Flux, or F-Lux.
01:51It's a program that adjusts the color temperature of your screen based on the time of day.
01:55So during daylight hours, your screen looks completely normal,
01:58but as the sun sets, the blue hues get reduced on the screen,
02:01which makes it more comfortable for your eyes.
02:03It's a little weird at first because stuff looks really warm and orange,
02:07but you get used to it, and once you do,
02:09your computer usage at night is just easier on your eyes.
02:12And personally, I can fall asleep more readily after using a computer that's had F-Lux running.
02:16The next thing... Okay, we need to talk about something related.
02:20There's an app called CCleaner.
02:22It used to be amazing, like it seriously belonged in top three apps for Windows,
02:25but Windows 10 has gotten better and better at cleaning up its own mess.
02:29And at this point, unless you really know what you're doing with it,
02:32I don't recommend CCleaner anymore, especially with cleaning registries.
02:35Nowadays, a registry cleanup can mess things up pretty bad.
02:38The thing is, CCleaner also came with a good uninstaller,
02:41but since I don't recommend CCleaner anymore,
02:43we gotta find a separate uninstaller program.
02:45And my favorite one right now is iobit uninstaller.
02:48It's pretty simple, the UI is good, and it just does what it says it does.
02:52It cleanly uninstalls your applications.
02:54Okay, the last of this group of apps is a text editor.
02:57So instead of using something super basic like Notepad that comes with Windows,
03:01there's something called Notepad++.
03:03It's basically an amped up version of Notepad.
03:05A lot of the features are geared towards developers.
03:08There's syntax highlighting, and you can have multi-editing,
03:10but a lot of the features are awesome for regular people.
03:13You can zoom in and out of your document,
03:15and my favorite is that you can have different tabs open.
03:18So I use a text editor for a bunch of stuff in my life,
03:20and Notepad++ is awesome for it.
03:22Now I know some of you guys are developers,
03:24and you're using things like Sublime and Atom,
03:26but for the average person that isn't a developer,
03:28Notepad++ is solid.
03:30So the apps that you have listed so far,
03:32those are just apps that everyone would use,
03:34or I think that everyone should be able to use.
03:36The next five are a little more specific.
03:38So the first one is an app called Discord.
03:41If you've been using Ventrilo, TeamSpeak, Mumble,
03:43or some other kind of voice chat to play games,
03:45you should consider switching to Discord.
03:47I think it's the best of the team chat programs.
03:49It has your usual desktop client,
03:51but you can also run it from a web browser,
03:53and you can even send people links that instantly brings them into your channel.
03:56It also tells you what games your friends are playing,
03:58and if they're online.
04:00If you're not using this yet, you should switch.
04:02Next up is OBS, or OBS.
04:04At its basics, it's a screen capture program.
04:06It's how I'm recording all these clips,
04:08but it can stream to any RTMP-enabled service,
04:11like Twitch and YouTube.
04:13It also supports QuickSync for faster video processing,
04:16has an audio mixer plugin.
04:18It's really solid.
04:19The one thing that it doesn't have is a secondary stream.
04:21So if you want to stream your game while showing a webcam of you playing,
04:24or a webcam of your keyboard,
04:26it doesn't support that.
04:28Okay, if you're looking to edit videos,
04:30and you want something a little more feature-rich than Windows Movie Maker,
04:33my top picks are HitFilm and DaVinci Resolve.
04:36Now, the free versions of these applications
04:38are toned down from the paid versions,
04:40but they're still very capable programs.
04:42I've actually edited some of my older videos with both of these.
04:45HitFilm has more features in regards to effects.
04:48Like, if you want to add any kind of visual effects,
04:50HitFilm has stuff that's built into it.
04:52And it basically supports any kind of video format.
04:54So if you're shooting from a GoPro, HitFilm is great.
04:57If you have a more advanced camera, like a DSLR,
04:59I'd go with DaVinci Resolve.
05:01It has some really powerful color correction and color grading tools.
05:04Another notable feature about Resolve is how well it uses GPUs.
05:08So if you're fortunate to have a really good video card,
05:10Resolve can take better advantage of it.
05:12Now, if you're looking for a free Photoshop-type program,
05:15or if you just want something better than MS Paint,
05:17there's GIMP, which is a pretty powerful photo editor.
05:19But Windows users are lucky and also have access to Paint.net.
05:23So I've used both of these.
05:25GIMP is more powerful and has access to a lot more features.
05:28Some of the plugins are amazing, like GMIKE.
05:30Paint.net isn't as feature-rich, but it's so much easier to learn how to use.
05:35So if you're new to photo editing or digital illustration,
05:37I would highly recommend Paint.net.
05:39Fantastic program, and I think for like 90% of people that use it,
05:42you'll be able to do whatever you want to do with a photo editing program.
05:45Okay, the last one is a hardware monitor.
05:47And choosing one of these is like choosing a brand of cereal.
05:50There are a ton of good options, and everyone has their personal favorite.
05:54My pick is Hardware Info.
05:56It's an app for people who want to keep track of their system.
05:58So if you want to see your processor use, temperatures, memory usage,
06:01it does a really good job.
06:03It can monitor your system very extensively.
06:05And of all the ones that I've tried, I think it has the best overall package.
06:08And that's about it.
06:09If you guys learned a thing or two, like if you discovered an app because of this video,
06:12I'd love to hear about it.
06:14If you didn't learn anything, that's pretty sad.
06:16But let me know in the comments below if you knew about all these apps to begin with.
06:19I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
06:21Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it.
06:22I'll see you guys next time.