The purpose of this article is to save me some time. I have realized that every time I resurrect the beloved machine of a family member, I have a go-to standard list of software which changes only slightly over time.
In the future, if a friend or family member needs a software advice, I will point them to this article. They get the correct software recommendations, and no more dodgy download pages.
I will update the list from time to time.
Feel free to browse for yourself 🙂
Software on my mom’s Windows 10 device
Remote support
- TeamViewer *must have for every family member – a real live saver!
Video player
Music player
Image viewer
- Irfan view *for not commercial use
- otherwise windows built-in
Image editor
- Paint. Net *easy
- Krita *advanced
PDF viewer:
Office suite
Markdown Editor
Packaging tool
Text editor
Anti-virus software
- use the built-in Windows Defender
- otherwise nothing *everything else is worse then a virus. To long to rant…
Browser
- Firefox
- Recommended Browser plug-ins:
- ublock origin
- No-script (only allowed if you understand what it does)
Email Client
Password manager
- Keepass *even my wife says it is not that bad to use one.
Messenger
File Size calculator
FTP Clients
- Filezilla *usually no family member knows what to do with this
Software on my mom’s Android device
I have picked the apps by light profile, with sane permission requests.
Also, I can recommend the F-Droid app store as an alternative to the google play store. Get it here
Launcher
- Nova Launcher *playstore
Calendar
- Simple Calendar *fdroid
Instant Messenger
- Signal *playstore – Free and very secure instant messenger
- Telegram *f-droid – free, secure and open source instant messenger
- Telegram *playstore
- Threema – secure instant messenger
- Threema *playstore
- Briar *f-droid– Free, open-source, secure and anonymous instant messenger. If the internet’s down, Briar can sync via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
- Briar *playstore
Video telephony client
- Jitsi Meet *f-droid
- Jitsi Meet *playstore
- Google Duo *playstore
Password manager
- Keepass 2 Android *playstore
- Bitwarden *playstore – I still recommend keepass, but this is a hassle free alternative.
Weather
- Yr *playstore
PDF viewer
Browser
- Firefox *playstore
- Firefox Klar *f-Droid
- Firefox Klar *playstore
Email Client
Podcast Client
- AntennaPod *f-droid
- AntennaPod *playstore
Calender and Contact sync (CalDav, CardDav)
Update: I have added an Android section to this article
Andrei
Thanks for the list, I haven’t heard about Krita before.
I used to install Picasa too… thanks Google 🙁
I find https://mpc-hc.org/ somewhat better than VLC.
Just to be on the safe side in case I connect with TeamViewer I usually install Far Manager (I also don’t need FileZilla then) and Process Explorer.
One more useless comment: s/real live saver!/real lifesaver/
Mathias Hueber
Glad the list is helpful. I’ll check out your recommendations – thank you! Also, thank you very much for the corrections 🙂
Al
“that every time I resurrect the beloved machine of a family member”
bwahahaha! I can relate!
– Was grinning while read through the list, FFox – VLC – foobar2k – SumatraPDF – LibreOffice – 7-Zip – Notepad++
These are the exact same SW that I install for my relatives too
– the only SW I always add is TotalCommander. Couldn’t live without it. Strange that it holds strong in Eastern Europe [personal observation! don’t have stats], but seemingly lost its popularity in the West
Anyway, kudos, great blog!
Mathias Hueber
Thanks mate 🙂 I never really connected with TC, but I know it has a lot of disciples.