{"id":10513,"date":"2022-02-07T11:26:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T11:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/07\/essential-apps-to-install-on-your-windows-pc-or-mac\/"},"modified":"2022-02-07T11:26:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T11:26:05","slug":"essential-apps-to-install-on-your-windows-pc-or-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/07\/essential-apps-to-install-on-your-windows-pc-or-mac\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Apps to Install on your Windows PC or Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n

You just bought a new laptop, built a new desktop PC, or are simply clean installing on a new solid state drive, good for you! Gotta love the taste of a fresh new machine, but now you have to get back to productivity Zen by recovering your files and installing programs.<\/p>\n

Not sure which ones? Well, let us help.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve compiled a list of essential programs to get you started. Many of these apps are also available as web services, but app versions have the advantage of offline access.<\/p>\n

Downloading movies or music to local storage can be useful when you are expecting hours with no connection. Even if you just want to write emails when an internet connection isn\u2019t available, you may want to be able to read the messages that you are writing replies to. Depending on the browser or the network you use, relying on web services can also cause privacy concerns.<\/p>\n

From security utilities to productivity tools, and many suggestions for the areas in between, here are top app recommendations with a special emphasis in great free software you can download right away…<\/p>\n

Web Browsing + One Essential Add-on<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n

Windows offers Edge<\/a> out of the box, a browser that\u2019s built upon the Chromium project and actually includes several features that Chrome doesn\u2019t, especially for Windows users, such as adding sites to the Start menu. Meanwhile, macOS offers Safari<\/a>, a very solid browser by most standards, especially if you live in Apple\u2019s ecosystem and perhaps the reason a sizable share of Mac users (~40%) don\u2019t look beyond it.<\/p>\n

And yet the default choice for most remains Google Chrome<\/a>, if only for its integration with other Google services. Chrome is great for Android users, too, as you can natively sync across devices.<\/p>\n

Chrome is a tad bland out of the box, though it supports extensions for a myriad of different things. From a security standpoint however, those same extensions can pose a risk, that and the fact that Google records everything you do in the browser is not great for your privacy either.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n

The open-source Firefox<\/a> is a solid browser with better privacy options. But, if you like Chrome the way it is except for Google\u2019s tracking methods, Ungoogled Chromium<\/a> may be an interesting choice for you. The problem is that while it disables many services that rely on Google, it doesn\u2019t always replace them with something else, so you should only use it if you know what you\u2019re getting into.<\/p>\n

Many power users also swear by Vivaldi<\/a>. This browser\u2019s claim to fame is how customizable it is. For example, it will let you stack tabs within tabs in one of 3 ways: with drop-down menus, with 2 tab bars, or by showing all tabs only in the active stack. You can add a side panel on either side of the screen, with browser menus and apps (notes, mail, RSS and calendar) and the option to add any website.<\/p>\n

Add a Password Manager<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s a fact that a ton of people still use terrible passwords. Even those that prefer something harder to crack than \u201c123456\u201d often have the same login credentials for several sites. There\u2019s also the problem of forgetting which passwords go with which websites. Most web browsers have their own password managers, but they are simply not as good as dedicated third-party software.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n

A password manager is an essential add-on. If you haven\u2019t already made your choice, we\u2019d recommend you start with the open-source Bitwarden<\/a>, mostly because its free version is fully functional. For $10\/year, you\u2019ll get additional features, such as encrypted sharing of files, rather than just text. Accounts for couples and for families\/organizations are also available. If for any reason you don\u2019t like Bitwarden, then KeePass<\/a> is a good free alternative.<\/p>\n

In the past, we\u2019ve recommended LastPass<\/a> as our top pick, but now its free version only allows access on one device type: PC or mobile. If you are willing to pay for a password manager, LastPass is pretty good, but you might as well choose 1Password<\/a> or Dashlane<\/a>, which also includes a VPN service to hide your IP address from the websites you visit.<\/p>\n

Cloud Storage & Backup<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n