7 Windows 11 features I should’ve used from day one

There’s a persistent myth that using free or open-source software means compromising on quality. Sure, open-source software isn’t always the best choice, and that’s ok. But the notion that you’re not getting a great piece of software when using open source isn’t accurate at all.

I use plenty of open source software in my daily life, both professionally and personally. Some of them are so good, I’d happily pay for them.

One of the best Windows browsers you can use

Credit: Yadullah AbidiMakeUseOf

Zen browser is a Firefox-based reimagining of what a modern browser should look like. It’s also inspired by Arc, the Chrome-killer that never was (at least on Windows). Zen borrows Arc’s best ideas—primarily the vertical sidebar for tab management—and executes them with a polish that’s much more refined on what Arc on Windows was delivering.

Arc’s best features, including Glance, Pinned and Essential tabs, Workspaces, theme customizations, and general flow are all present in Zen. Additionally, you get a healthy dose of performance and security thanks to Zen’s Firefox backbone.

You can delete your browser and switch to Zen today and be almost guaranteed to have a great experience. And if you want more functionality, you get a dedicated theme ecosystem with curated mods, full compatibility with Firefox extensions, and almost unlimited customizability. It’s free from Google code, works on well older system, and has full feature parity on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

You get all that with much better performance than you’ll see on most browsers and significantly better than Chrome. It’s unobtrusive, and has a compact mode that puts the browser completely out of your way unless you need it.

The best tool Microsoft made for Windows

Credit: Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf

In my opinion, Microsoft PowerToys is Microsoft’s best contribution to the open-source world. It’s a collection of over 25 small utilities that solve very specific (and very real) Windows problems you didn’t know you had until you see them.

The Command Palette alone is worth the download. It’s a significantly more powerful search tool and command executer so good that it should be built into Windows in the first place. There’s FancyZones, Advanced Paste, PowerRename, Image Resizer, File Locksmith, and many more tools that professional software companies typically charge for.

Replace Windows Search without loosing your mind

Windows Search is not great, for lack of a better term. Fluent Search is what Windows Search should’ve been This open-source alternative indexes your files, applications, browser bookmarks, running windows, and thanks to its Screen Search feature with OCR, even interface elements you can see on screen.

Everything works instantly and locally—no Bing ads, no cloud nonsense, no sluggishness. You can customize hotkeys install plugins to extend functionality, even adjust fuzzy searching. The search performance alone is significantly faster than the battery hog that is the Windows Search Indexer. There are even web based previews so you can peek at websites without leaving the search window.

Photo editing doesn’t have to be expensive

PhotoDemon is Windows’ answer to GIMP with far better usability. It includes over 200 professional tools for everything from basic adjustments to advanced RAW processing. There’s also unlimited undo/redo, real-time effect previews, support for RAW files, multi-layer editing, content-aware fill, and even support for Photoshop’s PSD files.

The built-in macro system lets you record complex editing sequences and bind them to one key, making workflows faster. If you need to batch-process an entire folder, a workflow feature that required another tool previously. It’s the Photoshop clone everyone keeps ignoring, and more people should give it a shot.

Image viewers don’t have to be as limited as they are

Image viewers are often overlooked, which also is what makes ImageGlass such a pleasant experience. It’s lightweight, elegant, and supports over 80 formats including WEBP, GIF, SVG, HEIC, and RAW. The interface is minimalist but surprisingly feature-rich. You get frameless mode, slideshow functionality, touch gesture support, color picker tools with format conversion, and GIF frame extraction.

There are extensive customization options, multiple language packs, themes, custom icon sets, and even folder view synchronization with Windows Explorer.

Professional-grade photo management without the price tag

DigiKam is a photo-organizing app so good it made me ditch Lightroom’s library. Apart from being a feature-loaded image viewer, it’s got a complete toolkit for managing thousands of photos. You can import images directly from over a thousand camera models and mass storage devices, organize with hierarchical albums and tags, and leverage AI-powered features that automatically tag your photos and identify faces for organizing locally on your device.

There’s also an integrated editor which, although not very powerful, handles 16-bit color depth RAW processing, color management, and everything from red-eye correction to white balance adjustment. More advanced features include a light table for side-by-side comparisons, batch processing with multicore parallelization, lens correction, and direct posting to Flickr, Google Photos, and Imgur.

Open-source video editing actual professionals can use

Kdenlive, or the KDE Non-Linear Video Editor, is the open-source video editor you need to replace Adobe’s Premeire Pro. You get unlimited video and audio tracks with per-track muting and naming, support for virtually any audio or video format thanks to FFmpeg integration, and a deeply customizable interface with multiple pre-configured layouts for different workflows.

There’s also a comprehensive effect library including tools for color correction, artistic effects, blur, sharpening, audio equalization, and more. And if you’re shooting on multiple cameras, it does support mulit-cam editing and professional audio and video scopes for monitoring.

The performance is also quite good. On older systems, you can leverage the proxy editing feature for better performance. There’s even an automatic backup system to ensure your projects survive crashes or other mishaps.

Open-source software can sometimes be great

The running theme of this list is simple: these programs don’t cut corners. They’re built by developers and communities that prioritize functionality and user experience over corporate profit margins. They’re open-source not as a gimmick, but as a commitment to transparency and freedom.

For anyone serious about their work who doesn’t want to drop a significant amount monthly to access paid software, these tools represent the best of what software can be.