Asklemmy

"Everything" - find any file on your machine instantly. No need to update an index, it uses the NTFS master file table directly.

• HandBrake (video transcoder)
• 7-zip (file archiver)
• Paint.net (image editor)
• VLC (media player)
• Aseprite (sprite editor / pixel art, only free if you compile it yourself. Some might say it's worth the 20 bucks to pay for it)

If you want something efficient and free of bullshit you probably first need to change your OS to a GNU/Linux distro

KeePassXC, or any kind of KeePass-compatible client. It uses strong encryption to store passwords, passkeys, and arbitrary data. Also does TOTP. Not using a password manager in current year is stupid.

QOwnNotes - a note-taking app that uses plain markdown files. None of that stupid metadata-inside-markdown-inside-database bullshit.

VLC. If it can't play it, nothing can.

LocalSend - like AirDrop, but cross platform

yt-dlp can download videos from most sites. Comes with a lot of advanced features if you need them.

I use Libre Office as a word and excel replacement. Might not be a replacement for everyone if perfect compatibility/formatting is needed for work, but for personal use it's been great.

Lots of great software already posted, but with some complaints about windows inefficiencies I can't believe no one has posted:

Microsoft PowerToys https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/

Basically, it's a suite of tools that windows devs have made to make their lives easier while working in windows. Some features have made it into actual windows releases over the years, but most not.

It has an always on top, batch rename, customisable window snapping, better search, keyboard key remapper, mouse across multiple devices, colour eyedropper, and many many more.

Absolute must have for anyone that uses windows regularly.

FLOSS games that are solid:

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

Luanti (aka Minetest)

sgt-puzzles

No one mentioned SolveSpace, so... SolveSpace. Solvespace is a fully functional 3D parametric CAD solver in a free, cross-platform, open-source, portable, single self-contained executable 10 MB file.

I do a fair amount of hobby 3d printing and SolveSpace makes design and CAD stupid easy. The interface is perfectly laid out, the hotkeys are intuitive, and the capabilities make small-scale projects a breeze.

Now, the program has its limitations, but if I just want something quick and simple, there is nothing better.

Davinci Resolve - Video Editing

Blender - 3D Modelling

Darktable - Photo Editing

Keira - Digital Art

Are some I use frequently.

Wireguard, I find it both simpler and easier to use than OpenVPN.

dd. No other iso writing utility has worked as consistently, even if my usb devices would gain weird glitches after using it.

Believe it or not I am a person who goes out of their way to avoid using the terminal, so this is very much vouching for the software itself rather than the ux it's based on.

EMACS:- No I'm not kidding, Yes it has a learning curve but the real fun is AFTER you figure it out & find out that it can do more than just edit texts

• You can play music
• You can turn it into an Email client
• Browse the internet
• A fully-fledged IDE
• There's Tetris in it
• A File-Manager
• Even a Chat Client
• Remote-Server interaction
• Even have it function like Obsidian
• Have Vim-keybindings (For VIM-users)
• A Git interface
• Even use it as a Linux Distro

KiCad - electrical engieneering

FreeCAD - mechanical engieneering

Blender - 3d modeling, rendering, animation

Krita - raster painting

Kdenlive - video editing

LMMS - music creation

Ardour - sound processing

Nheko - Matrix client

Xonotic - FPS game

KDE - K Desktop Enviroment

Hotspot - GUI for perf sampling profiler

KCachegrind - GUI for valgrind cache simulator

QT Creator - C(++)/QML(and prob JS) IDE

Graphvis - graph visualizer

Well !foss@beehaw.org and !linux@programming.dev for more, but off the top of my head:

Linux, VLC, FFMPEG, HandBrake, KDE (everything KDE), qBittorrent, Momentum (Flipper0 firmware), CHIRP, Vim, and more!

TestDisk and PhotoRec. TestDisk can recover broken drive partitions, PhotoRec can recover deleted files even if the partition table is borked.

You're description of Notepad++ reminds me of Kate (KDE)

Bitwarden

It's a FOSS password manager that you can self host, or use their cloud infrastructure. Their free plan is more than enough for basic users, and their paid personal plan is less than $1 a month and is packed with features.

Runs in your browser, Android, iOS, Chrome and Firefox extensions, and has native desktop apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Super easy to set up and use, no BS, works damn near perfectly. I've been using it for years and I love it, it's the only password manager I recommend to folks now days.

Np ++ is the GOAT. Stupidly fast to open, always restores everything you've ever typed no matter what, and the only program I've ever seen that actually lets you rename tabs where you haven't saved the file first.

Micro or NeoVim if you're a minimalist. Emacs or VS Code otherwise (a little bit of BS maybe). And Windows terminal plus WSL if you're on Windows.

Interesting that people still use Notepad++. Haven't touched it in 15+ years.

And Python of course.

Bitwarden, Kdenlive, Firefox, OBS, Steam.

UniGetUI basically a package manager for windows, can auto update libre office.

PosteRazor - cuts up images to print on multiple sheets.

Krita - image editing

Inkscape - vector graphics

Desmos.

Free online really good quality graphing, scientific, etc calculators with no ads or other bullshit.

Website

Android App

Just found qalculate and it's amazing

I logged in just to answer this:

Stellarium

When it comes to stargazing and learning more about the night sky, there is hands-down no better program. It's available on PC (windows/Mac/Linux) as well as mobile platforms. I used it for months for free before I paid for the premium sub, and the premium sub actually feels additive rather than just gatekeeping essential features. Plus, it's pretty cheap and you can choose to just buy a lifetime pass for $20 and skip the sub. It's the only app I've ever been happy to subscribe to.