WhatsApp is the messaging app most of your contacts already use. The phone install is an easy call, while the Windows desktop app is where the real tradeoff sits.
Private mode in most web browsers still shows every site your IP address. Tor Browser hides it behind volunteer relays, which matters most on watched networks.
Zen Browser is a free, open-source Firefox fork that brings Arc's Workspaces and vertical tabs to web browsers on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
When Chrome starts eating memory, Microsoft Edge is the Chromium browser most people already have. What it costs you now that Copilot ships inside it.
Free, open source and funded by donations, Thunderbird is the email client for people who want mail, calendar and contacts kept on their own machine.
Webmail tabs and the built-in Mail app fall short once you're juggling several accounts. Mailspring answers with a native client and unlimited free accounts.
Notepad++ is the free, open-source text editor most Windows users install the day plain Notepad stops being enough. Fast, tiny, and endlessly extendable.
7-Zip is a free, open-source file archiver that opens almost everything and compresses tighter than most paid rivals. A plain interface is the only real cost.
VLC media player opens nearly any video or audio file for free, on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS, without hunting down a separate codec pack.
Sumatra PDF is a free, no-frills PDF reader that opens files on Windows almost instantly, without Adobe's bloat. See who it actually fits.
One long read on the week's biggest shift, every Sunday.
