One shall never take the new year times too seriously as they often change in numbers.
From the reply to the missed new year's greeting
Free and Open Source all-rounder apps that will boost your productivity in 2023
As a Linux / Windows user and Systems Administrator, I have come to rely on a number of apps to make my daily workflow more efficient and effective. In this article, I will be sharing my top picks for the best Free and Open Source all-rounder apps that I would use on a regular basis. These apps cover a range of categories, including productivity, communication, and entertainment, and they have all proven to be invaluable tools in my work and personal life. I hope that this list of must-have apps will provide you with some useful recommendations and help you get the most out of your all-rounder experience in 2023.
Flow Launcher
Flow launcher is a search app, application launcher, and much more. It’s like Alfred on Mac. Just press your defined hotkey and type what you need: search files, applications, internet, bookmarks, specific applications (like Obsidian), do math operations, display your ip address, etc.
What does it do?
Use your customizable hotkey to trigger the search window immediately.
Different Themes, Animation & Sound, Or Simply Build Your Own
Quick File Search & App Launcher for Windows
Search and launch apps quickly
Use everything or the default search to search for files
Browse the internet with your default engine
Write your own plugins in C#, F#, Python, JavaScript or TypeScript.
And much more ..
Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a source code cross-platform IDE editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is a free and open-source program that includes support for debugging, version control, and integrated support for build tools. Visual Studio Code also includes support for a wide range of programming languages, including C++, C#, Java, Python, and more. It has a powerful integrated development environment (IDE) and is a popular choice among developers due to its speed, customization options, and wide range of features.
Visual Studio Code is Free. Built on open source. Runs everywhere.
Everything by Voidtools
Everything is a search utility for Microsoft Windows that allows users to search for files and folders on their computer quickly and easily. It uses an index of filenames and folder names to search through, rather than searching through the contents of the files themselves, which makes it very fast.
When a user searches for a particular file or folder, Everything displays a list of all the matching results and allows the user to open or navigate to the desired item. Everything is designed to be simple and lightweight, and it does not require any installation or setup. It can be run directly from a USB drive or other portable storage device, making it an excellent tool for users who need to search for files on multiple computers.
Obsidian, by Default
Obsidian is a cross-platform markdown editor that allows you to create and manage notes using the markdown syntax. It is designed to be a fast and efficient way to write and organize your thoughts and ideas, and it offers a number of features to help you do so. Some of the key features of Obsidian include:
- Notes are saved as plain text files, which makes them easy to access and edit with any text editor.
- Obsidian uses the concept of “graph view” to show the relationships between your notes and how they are connected.
- You can use Obsidian to link your notes together using [[wiki-style links]], which allows you to create a web of interconnected information.
- Obsidian has a number of built-in formatting options for text, including headings, lists, code blocks, and more.
- It offers a number of customization options, including the ability to change the theme, add custom CSS, and more.
Obsidian is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. I fell in love with Obsidian when I first tried it. Very simple, but very powerful, and very configurable through the plugins.
ShareX
ShareX is an open-source screen capture and recording tool that allows you to capture images, videos, and GIFs of your screen or a specific window or area. It is designed to be easy to use and offers a number of features to make screen capture and recording tasks easier and more efficient. Some of the key features of ShareX include:
- Support for multiple capture methods, including full screen, window, region, and more.
- Ability to capture and record audio from your microphone and system sounds.
- Support for annotation and markup, including the ability to draw on, highlight, and add text to your captures.
- A wide range of output options, including the ability to save captures to your local drive, upload them to a variety of online services (such as Imgur, Dropbox, and Google Drive), or copy them to the clipboard for pasting elsewhere.
- Customizable hotkeys for quick access to the various capture and recording functions.
ShareX is available for Windows and can be downloaded for free from the ShareX website.
PowerToys
Windows PowerToys is a collection of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows experience for greater productivity. It was originally developed for Windows 95 and Windows NT, but has been updated for use with newer versions of Windows.
The PowerToys package includes a variety of tools, including:
- Always On Top: allows you to pin windows on top.
- Awake: an easy way to keep your computer awake.
- Color Picker
- FancyZones: lets you define custom window layouts and snap windows into them for easier organization.
- File Locksmith: this allows you to find which processes are using selected files or directories.
- Hosts File Editor
- Keyboard Manager: remap keys.
- Mouse Utilities: cursor highlighter and more.
- PowerToys Run: quick launcher.
- File Explorer Add-ons: adds new features and functionality to the Windows File Explorer, such as image resizing and file renaming tools.
- Image Resizer: this allows you to quickly resize one or more images by right-clicking on them in File Explorer.
- PowerRename: enables you to batch rename multiple files using search and replace or regular expressions.
The PowerToys utilities can be downloaded and installed individually or as a package from the GitHub releases page.
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation. It is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and IOs. Firefox is known for its speed, security, and support for a variety of browser extensions. It also has features like a private browsing mode and support for tabbed browsing, which allows you to open multiple web pages in the same window. Firefox is considered a safe and reliable choice for web browsing and is used by millions of people around the world.
Get 2,000+ trackers off your trail — including Facebook.
Notepad++, a Good Fella'
Notepad++ is a free and open-source text editor for Windows that is designed for programmers. It supports a wide range of programming languages and has many features that make it useful for writing and editing code.
Some of the features of Notepad++ include syntax highlighting, code folding, search and replace with regular expressions, and support for multi-language environments. It also has a customizable interface and supports plugins, which can add additional functionality to the program. Notepad++ is a popular choice for programmers due to its lightweight design and feature-rich environment.
Notepad++ source code repository is available on GitHub: https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus
InSync
Insync is a cross-platform software program that allows you to sync and backup files across multiple devices. It is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it can be used to sync files with Google Drive and Google Team Drives. Insync offers a number of features, including the ability to select specific folders to sync, the option to sync files in the background, and the ability to share files with others. Insync is a useful tool for people who need to access their files from multiple devices or who want to keep their files backed up in the cloud.
Manage your Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox files straight from your Desktop.
OneCommander
OneCommander is a file manager program for Windows that is designed to be a faster and more efficient alternative to the built-in Windows File Explorer. It has a dual-pane interface that allows you to easily navigate and manage your files and folders, and it includes features such as support for tabbed browsing, file searching, and the ability to compare files.
OneCommander also includes a range of tools for working with files, such as the ability to view and edit text files, create archives, and copy and move files between folders. It is a useful tool for users who need a more powerful and efficient way to manage their files and folders on their computer.
One Commander V3 is a modern file manager for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Features include tabs, dual-pane browsers, columns navigation, built-in preview, a theming system, color tags, and much more. It is free for home use and has no ads.
DropIt
DropIt is a free, open-source utility that processes files in specified folders according to rules created by you. For example, I use it to monitor Downloads folder and copy exe and msi files to the Apps folder. I also have rules to organize invoices and other documents into their specific folders, based on their names. You just configure a bunch of rules, and DropIt does the rest.
You can define how to filter your files (by name, directory, size, date, properties, content, regular expressions) and associate one of the 21 available actions to perform (Move, Copy, Compress, Extract, Rename, Delete, Split, Join, Encrypt, Decrypt, Open With, Print, Upload, Send by Mail, Create Gallery, Create List, Create Playlist, Create Shortcut, Copy to Clipboard, Change Properties and Ignore). You can also organize your associations in profiles and automatically scan monitored folders at a defined time interval to process included files.
Ferdium, so Promising
Ferdium is a free and open-source messaging and email client that allows you to manage multiple services from a single app. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux and supports a wide range of services, including popular messaging and email platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Gmail, and more. With Ferdium, you can have all of your messaging and email services in a single app, which can be convenient if you use multiple services and want to keep them organized in one place.
Ferdium represents: All your services in one place, built by the community.