Five free Windows apps worth installing - but skip the manual setup
ZDNET published its standard "must-install Windows apps" list: Brave Browser for privacy, VLC for media, ShareX for screenshots, WPS Office as a Microsoft Office alternative, and Todoist for task management. All free, all useful, all things you've probably seen recommended before.
The list itself is fine. These tools work. But the article's premise - that you manually install apps on each new PC - reveals a consumer mindset that doesn't translate to enterprise environments.
What this means in practice
For individual developers or small teams, the advice holds. Tools like Ninite can batch-install common apps and save 15-30 minutes of setup time. Microsoft's Store now hosts 500,000+ free apps for Windows 10 and 11, including PowerToys for system tweaks and various FOSS options prioritised for security.
For enterprise IT? Manual app installations are a non-starter. Windows 11 deployments - accelerating since Windows 10's October 2025 end-of-support - require managed deployment through Intune or similar tools. The apps your developers need should arrive pre-configured.
The broader pattern
The "essential apps" conversation continues to surface on YouTube and tech sites, typically featuring the same rotation: PowerToys, Brave, various cleaners and optimisers. Recent videos from December 2025 to January 2026 push tools like Windhawk for taskbar modifications and Flow Launcher for quick access.
Notably absent from most lists: acknowledgment that bloatware concerns on fresh PCs often matter more than which third-party apps to add. Also missing: recognition that developer environments increasingly live in containers, not directly on Windows.
Worth noting
If you're setting up individual machines, the ZDNET list won't steer you wrong. If you're managing more than a handful of PCs, the conversation should be about deployment automation and policy, not which five apps to download first.
The tools matter less than the process.