Software On My Computer
A complete list of all the software (apps/VST plugins, etc.) I had on my Windows 10 computer in January 2023. Everything is free (besides some of the games), and a lot is open-source. None of the links are direct download links (or at least they weren't when I made this list). An asterisk (*) indicates that it's open-source.
Slightly unrelatedly, Chris Titus Tech has created a utility that (among other things) makes it incredibly easy to install or update apps on a Windows computer. I use it every time I reinstall Windows (annoyingly, I've had to do it at least 3 times in the past year). The easiest way to access it is to open PowerShell and run
irm https://christitus.com/winutil | iex
This will download the script, then run it. This means you don't have to open Edge... ever, if you don't want to, since you can just download another browser using that utility. Of course, you could also use WinGet with the same result, but the UI makes it easier to select more than one thing.
Apps
Built-in Windows 10 stuff
Obvsiously.
7-Zip*
An open-source utility for creating and opening archives.
winget install 7zip.7zip
scoop install 7zip
Audacity*
An open-source program for recording audio. I rarely use it, since I have alternatives with more features, but it's nice to have for some things.
winget install Audacity.Audacity
scoop install audacity
AutoHotkey (v2)*
An open-source utility for creating custom hotkeys, macros, and various other things. I don't use it much, but I have an AHK autoclicker that's useful in some situations.
winget install AutoHotkey.AutoHotkey (v2.x)
winget install Lexicos.Autohotkey (v1.x)
scoop install autohotkey (v2.x)
BespokeSynth*
An open-source modular DAW. It can host 64-bit VST2, VST3, LV2, and CLAP plugins, and it has several dozen built-in modules. Bespoke is absolutely incredible, and EVERYTHING can be modulated. Unfortunately, the last official release (1.1.0) was released in November 2021, but it's still being frequently updated, so nightly builds are really the only way to get all the features.
winget install BespokeSynth.BespokeSynth (this installs 1.1.0, if you want the latest version, go to the GitHub release page and download the nightly release)
Bulk Rename Utility
A free (for personal use) utility for renaming multiple files at once.
winget install TGRMNSoftware.BulkRenameUtility
scoop install bulk-rename-utility
Cakewalk by Bandlab
This used to be my main DAW, before I discovered Bespoke, and later Waveform. I never actually record anything useful, I just mess around. The main reason I still have it on my computer is that it can host 32-bit plugins (of which I have a few). It hosts 32 and 64-bit VST2, VST3, and DirectX plugins. Its biggest disadvantage, in my opinion, is how annoying it is to get MIDI mapping and automation working. With Waveform, it's literally as simple as clicking MIDI Learn, changing a parameter, then moving a knob. That's how Cakewalk is supposed to work, but there's a whole bunch of steps you have to do first, and even after having done those, I still couldn't get it to work.
Carla*
"Carla is a fully-featured modular audio plugin host, with support for many audio drivers and plugin formats." It's also open-source and runs as a VST2, VST3, CLAP, and LV2 plugin, as well as a standalone app. Carla can host VST2/VST3/SF2/SFZ/LV2 plugins (and more). Although Carla and Bespoke are very similar, I prefer Bespoke for various reasons.
Chocolatey*
A package manager that I basically never use (I mostly use Winget instead). But it has a very useful refreshenv command, which refreshes the environment variables.
ClickPaste*
A tool that makes pasting into certain places easier. Basically, you click the icon in the notification area, then click where you want it to "paste." Then, instead of actually pasting, it quickly types out the contents of your clipboard. Very useful for VNC.
Clink*
Some command prompt utility I literally never use... although looking at the website, maybe I should. I installed it because autojump* depended on it, but then I couldn't get autojump working.
winget install chrisant996.Clink
scoop install clink
Discord
A chat/communication/messaging software.
winget install Discord.Discord
scoop install discord
DISTRHO Cardinal*
An open-source VST2/VST3/LV2/CLAP/standalone version of VCV Rack v2.
Everything
An amazing tool that can quickly search every single file on a Windows computer.
winget install voidtools.Everything
scoop install everything
EverythingToolbar*
An easy way to add Everything to the taskbar, made to look like normal Windows Search.
winget install stnkl.EverythingToolbar
Flow Launcher*
An open-source search utility with plenty of add-ons. I've looked at a lot of these, including PowerToys Run*, Keypirinha, ueli*, and Wox*, but this one is my favorite.
winget install Flow-Launcher.Flow-Launcher
scoop install flow-launcher
Git*
Version control software... I'm assuming if you're reading this list, you know what it is.
winget install Git.Git
scoop install git
GitHub CLI*
A command line application for Git/GitHub.
winget install GitHub.cli
GitHub Desktop*
A UI application for Git/GitHub.
winget install GitHub.GitHubDesktop
Google Chrome
Google's web browser. I know it may not necessarily be the fastest or the most secure, but it's the one I use.
winget install Google.Chrome
scoop install googlechrome
Helios*
A nice screensaver
midiflip*
A command line utility that can flip MIDI files. It supports wildcards, so you could do something like
midiflip -i "midis/**/*.mid" -o "transformed/"
It requires NodeJS*.
npm install midiflip
Micro*
Basically an open-source, cross-platform version of nano, with more features.
winget install zyedidia.Micro
scoop install micro
Muse Hub
An app used to download things like MuseScore 4, Muse Sounds, Audacity, and a couple of other things. But I'm literally going to uninstall this as soon as I finish this list... I hate this app for several reasons. Firstly, I just hate app installers that are also apps that need installation. It just seems ridiculous. Secondly (and most importantly), it installs a service that automatically runs in the background and makes it really annoying to get rid of. Uninstalling Muse Hub doesn't get rid of it, the folder it's in has... weird permissions, and you can't set the service to "manual" because you don't have permissions to do that, and you don't have permission to change the permission. While it could just be the torrent client it claims to be, there's no way to know, since it's not open-source. Basically, if it is a virus or something (I doubt it is, but still), it's a very well-designed one.
MuseScore*
An open-source app for creating sheet msuic. I have both MuseScore 3 and MuseScore 4. I rarely use 4 because (in my opinion) it came out of beta way too early. It's got tons of bugs and WAY too much built-in unremovable reverb. But the features it adds (mostly the VST3 instrument/effect support) are huge improvements. For MuseScore 4:
winget install Musescore.Musescore
scoop install musescore For MuseScore 3 (untested):
winget install MuseScore.Musescore -v 3.6.2.548021803
scoop install musescore@3.6.2.548021803
Node.js*
Not entirely sure what exactly this is (a "JavaScript Runtime Environment"), but I know that there a bunch of things that are installed with npm (which I assume is the Node Package Manager). I installed this for midiflip*.
winget install OpenJS.NodeJS
scoop install nodejs
Notepad++*
A text/code editor.
winget install Notepad++.Notepad++
scoop install notepadplusplus
O&O RegEditor
A better registry editor. It's portable. scoop install regeditor
Plane9
A nice-looking screensaver, or rather, list of screensavers, many of which are sound-sensitive
Plogue Sforzando
An SFZ soundfont player, also available as VST2/VST3.
winget install plogue.sforzando
PowerShell*
I installed it one day, wondering what the difference was between Windows PowerShell and PowerShell 7... then discovered it had autocomplete and never used Windows PowerShell again. I've never really gone through any PowerShell tutorials, so I don't know how to actually use it on its own for scripting or anything, but it's nice to have autocomplete.
winget install Microsoft.PowerShell
PowerToys
Several Windows utilities. I mostly just use Always On Top, but occasionally find uses for a couple of the others.
winget install Microsoft.PowerToys
scoop install powertoys
PuTTY*
An SSH/Telnet client. I use it to connect to my Raspberry Pi.
winget install PuTTY.PuTTY
scoop install putty
Python*
A programming language you've probably heard of.
winget install Python.Python.3.11 (or Python.Python.2 or Python.Python.3.[something]) scoop install python
QuickLook*
Exactly what it sounds like: Mac's Quick Look for Windows. When a file is selected, pressing space shows information about it.
winget install QL-Win.QuickLook
scoop install quicklook
SciTE4AutoHotkey*
A code editor specifically for AutoHotkey.
Scoop*
A package manager for Windows (but I usually just use Winget).
Shell
A way to modify the default Windows context menu. Support for alternate file managers, such as Tablacus, is somewhat incomplete, and there are some features that don't exist yet, but the developer seems to be pretty quick at fixing bugs.
winget install Nilesoft.Shell
scoop install nilesoft-shell
Slack
A chat/communication/messaging software, but more business-oriented that Discord.
winget install SlackTechnologies.Slack
scoop install slack
SoundSwitch*
Switches the audio input/output device with a hotkey. Due to the fact that I use an old audio interface, I occasionally have issues. Sometimes, one of the virtual USB audio ports (from the computer to the audio interface) will just randomly stop working for a few minutes, so I have to switch to another one. This app cuts that process from ten seconds to one.
winget install AntoineAflalo.SoundSwitch
scoop install soundswitch
Spitfire Audio App
Another installer app.... D: but this one I actually use sometimes, so I'm keeping it. You need it to install several sample libraries, such as LABS and "BBC Orchestra Symphony Discover."
Steam
A gaming app that you've probably heard of.
winget install Valve.Steam
SuperF4*
A much faster way to force quit an app than going to Task Manager.
winget install StefanSundin.Superf4
scoop install superf4
Surge XT*
An open-source VST2/VST3/CLAP/standalone synth. It can do quite a bit.
winget install SurgeSynthTeam.SurgeXT
Sysinternals
Way too many Windows utilities, most of which I will never use. A few individual utilities can be installed with Winget, use winget search Sysinternals to find them. scoop install sysinternals
Tablacus Explorer*
I don't have a built-in tabbed file manager, so I use this instead. It may not look as nice and... Mac-like (yes, I said it) as that of Windows 11, but it's portable, open-source, works great and is incredibly customizeable, though it does require a bit of learning. I've tried several alternatives, such as Files, OneCommander, and multiple versions of QTTabBar (no link because I don't want to spend ten minutes trying to figure out which one is actually the newest), but Tablacus was just the one I liked more.
TX16wX
A software sampler that can load various soundfonts and other things like that.
Unity/Unity Hub
A game development environment, which I mostly use to make levels for Human Fall Flat (Unity Hub is the installer) Unity Hub:
winget install Unity.UnityHub
scoop install unity-hub-np Unity:
winget install Unity.Unity.2020 (or 2021, 2022...)
VCV Rack*
A virtual modular synth, which is only somewhat open-source. The free community version is open-source, while the VST plugin Pro version is not.
winget install VCVRack.VCVRack
Visual Studio
"It’s how you make software." "What do you want to [code, build, debug, deploy, collaborate on, analyze, learn] today? Visual Studio can do that."
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community (and probably other years/versions as well)
Visual Studio Code*
An open-source code editor with (quick Google) over 30,000 extensions.
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode
Vital Synth*
A VST2/VST3/standalone synth. The only source code that has been made publicly available hasn't been updated since April 2022, but it's still source code. I sort of prefer this to Surge XT. They both do similar things, but Vital is much more intuitive, although slightly more CPU-hungry.
VLC Media Player*
An open-source media player with a lot of features.
winget install VideoLAN.VLC
scoop install vlc
VSTHost*
This is... a host... for VST plugins. About as simple as it gets. While this program was open-source (hence the asterisk), all versions since v1.16r are not. Anyway, several years ago, I found this on an old 32-bit Windows XP laptop, and had absolutely NO idea what it was, since at that point I'd never even heard of a VST plugin. A couple years later, I was looking for a way to get around what I thought was a problem with Cakewalk (turns out I just hadn't figured out how to do it) when I came across this. I downloaded it, then suddenly realized that I'd seen it before. I'll probably never use it again, since I've found other tools that do the job much better.
Waveform Free
Waveform Free is the only DAW I've ever found that has a free version that actually has all the features of the full version. The only difference is that the free version lacks a few built-in plugins (such as the arpeggiator and various effects). But there are free alternatives to all or most of them, so it really is just a DAW. It doesn't even have the usual "free version" things like nag screens, constant reminders that you don't have the full version, and track limits. It also has a really cool plugin rack feature.
WingetUI*
An open-source UI for Winget and Scoop. Very useful, especially its update blacklisting feature.
winget install SomePythonThings.WingetUIStore
scoop install wingetui
WizTree
Basically WinDirStat* but much faster and not open-source. It looks through all the files and shows a visual representation of their size. I don't really need this app with a 4TB spinning disk, but it would have been nice to have when I had a 256GB SSD.
winget install AntibodySoftware.WizTree
scoop install wiztree
Zoom
A video converencing app that everyone who lived through COVID probably knows about.
winget install Zoom.Zoom
scoop install zoom
Games
These are all the games I have installed, plus all the other ones I own.
Baba is You
A 2D tile-pushing puzzle game where the rules keep changing. I don't honestly know how best to explain this game, but basically, there are words that you can push around to control the way the world works. There's also a level editor and sharing system.
Biped
Honestly, very similar to Human Fall Flat, only it's 1-2 players controlling robots, and you control your feet instead of your hands.
Human: Fall Flat
Blobby humanoids with gecko hands flop around trying to reach the end of the level. That's about it. You can also create levels with Unity, which is pretty cool.
FEZ
A perspective-based puzzle platformer, involving a 2-dimensional character, Gomez, discovering the power of rotation around the vertical axis using a magical fez. Although it doesn't have much of a story, it is an amazing game (even though I had to look up the answers to several puzzles). The music is also great. The weirdest thing about FEZ is the fact that there's one puzzle that nobody has really "solved." People have brute-forced it and posted the solution online, but even though the game's been around since 2012, nobody's figured out why.
ibb & obb
A 2-player co-op 2D platformer game with gravity reversal. That's about all I have to say.
Minetest*
Minetest is a free, open-source, cross-platform, portable voxel game engine and client (?), with which several games have been made, including Minetest Game, which is just kind of a basic built-in game. There's also MineClone 2, a game that is trying to recreate MineCraft. Minetest has multiplayer capabilities, and anyone can host a server (and easily join public ones). Also, all Minetest mods and games are written in Lua, meaning that they're also open-source and relatively easy to make, assuming you know how to code.
Portal
You probably know what this is. Set in the same universe as Half Life (which I've actually never played), a test subject wakes up in Aperture Laboratories. An AI named GLaDOS leads/forces her through several tests, most of which require a portal gun. Then a bunch of other things happen, that may or may not include baking and cake. It's a great game with phrases like "Fifteen Hundred Megawatt Aperture Science Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button."
Portal 2
The sequel to Portal. 9 9 9 9 9 (seconds? days? years?) after the first game, Chell is awakened by a personality core named Wheatley, then has to do a bunch more testing, then several more things happen, which really establish the backstory of the game and prove that it's in the same universe as Half Life, as well as explaining why/how GLaDOS is the way she is. Did I mention there was also an entire 2-player cooperative sequel story included with it, as well as a built-in level editor and online (or split-screen) co-op? How could you not play a game with quotes like, "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! ... Demand to see life's manager! ... Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's going to burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm going to get my engineers to make a combustible lemon that BURNS YOUR HOUSE DOWN!"
Portal Stories: Mel
A fan-made Portal 2 mod set between Portal and Portal 2. Plenty of really hard tests and also a reasonable story (although it's not nearly as entertaining as the original games). Also, the music is great.
Quantum Conundrum
A game where you can switch between dimensions (not like X, Y, Z, more like Fluffy, Heavy, etc) to complete levels.
StarCraft/Brood War/StarCraft Remastered
An sci-fi RTS game involving 3 species (Terran/human, Zerg, and Protoss) fighting each other for various reasons. There's a story, as well as online multiplayer with AI.
StarCraft 2
The highly superior sequel to StarCraft. With better graphics, better sound, better gameplay, and a level editor with WAY more features than I'm ever going to use.
Tachyon: The Fringe
A space game that's older than I am, about the "Galactic Spanning Corporation" (GalSpan) trying to take over very profitable sectors from Bora colonists. You get to choose which side you play on, meaning you really need to play through twice. There are definitely some compatibility issues with Windows 10, but I managed to get it to run (after about five hours of trying). To make sure I wouldn't have to go through all that again, I just compressed the folder and uploaded it somewhere so that even if I have to/choose to reset/replace my computer, I can still easily get a working version. (I don't know how well this method would work with the Steam version, but that seems to work mostly fine anyway).
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
A point and click puzzle game that does not want to be played... and also has a girlfriend.
Audio plugins
Airwindows*
A set of over 300 open-source VST effects with simple UI's.
AGML II
The best free acoustic guitar instrument plugin I've been able to find (even though I play guitar, so I rarely use it). It has AU, VST2, VST3, AAX, RTAS, and standalone versions.
BlueArp
A MIDI arpeggiator VST2/AU plugin. Personally, I prefer Cream.
Cakewalk stuff
Cakewalk by Bandlab comes with several plugins. The DirectX plugins are not supported by many current DAWS, and BREVERB and TH3 will not run anywhere besides Cakewalk. But several other plugins (BOOST11, Channel Tools, SI-Bass Guitar, SI-Drum Kit, SI-Electric Piano, and SI-String Section) work anywhere that supports VST2. Also, the SI plugins are basically just SFZ hosts, so you could just find the SFZ files and use them in sforzando.
Carla*
"Carla is a fully-featured modular audio plugin host, with support for many audio drivers and plugin formats." It's also open-source and runs as a VST2, VST3, CLAP, and LV2 plugin, as well as a standalone app. Carla can host VST2/VST3/SF2/SFZ/LV2 plugins (and more). Although Carla and Bespoke are very similar, I prefer Bespoke for various reasons.
Kirnu Cream
An excellent arpeggiator plugin. The "demo" version (what I have) is literally just the full version but with no presets.
Several Chowdhury DSP plugins*
These are interesting plugins. I'd have to say that the most unique is Chow Matrix, which is something for creating custom delay chains. One of the plugins says it "supports the following desktop plugin formats: VST3, AU, CLAP, AAX, Standalone, and LV2, as well as Standalone and AUv3 on iOS devices." The other plugin descriptions say nothing about what formats they're available in, and I'm too lazy to check.
Drum Pro
Not the best drum plugin. It doesn't comply with the standard MIDI drum layout and although it has synth drum sounds, it's just a rompler.
Cardinal*
An open-source VST2/VST3/LV2/CLAP/standalone version of VCV Rack v2.
Krush
A great bitcrusher/downsampler, great for Fez-like music.
Magical 8bit Plug*
An 8-bit synth, meant to sound like old video game synths. It's open-source.
Melda Audio plugins
Around 40 free VST2/VST3/AU/AAX plugins, mostly effects, and several more paid ones. I particularly like Monastery Grand, a piano instrument for MSoundFactory.
MIDImonitor*
Apparently, the official website doesn't exist anymore, so the link goes to the Wayback Machine/internet archive. As far as I can tell, this plugin (and all the other plugins) are open-source and located here, but I'm not going to actually download things looking for the source code.
MT-PowerDrumKit
A great sounding sampled drum kit VST/AU/AAX plugin. It has a rather annoying nag screen every time you load it, and it doesn't produce sound until you skip it. You can get rid of it by donating. You can route each drum individually, to up to 8 different stereo outputs. It also has a grooves feature, letting you easily find drumm patterns and drag them into your DAW.
Muse FX
A few very simple effects (Chorus, Compressor, De-esser, Delay, Master, Noise Gate, Pitch Fix, Reverb, Rotary, and two EQ effects). Unfortunately, they must be downloaded through Muse Hub.
Orchestools Funimator*
Sort of a filter/gain sequencer. It's open source, and available as a VST3.
Orchestools P1ano S*
An open-source piano plugin. In my opinion, it doesn't sound that great. It's available as a VST3, "Linux plugin," and Windows standalone app.
Orchestools Sections*
Four great (and open-source) orchestral plugins: Strings, Brass, Winds, and Percussion, available as VST3 and... "Linux plugin," which I'm not going to download right now.
Ribs
A VST/AU granular plugin.
*
An open-source VST2, VST3, "Mac," and "Linux" plugin. I won't download those to figure out what the other formats are. It's a Nintendo Gameboy synth emulator.
Plogue Sforzando
An SFZ soundfont player, also available as VST2/VST3.
winget install plogue.sforzando
Spitfire BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover
A good-quality orchestral VST2/VST3/AU/AAX plugin from Spitfire.
Spitfire LABS
A plugin and over 50 libraries for it. This is mentioned on basically every list of free instrument plugins, usually right at the top.
Steven Slate Drums 5.5 Free
A great drum plugin with no nag screen like MT-PowerDrumKit has.
SUB Analog Drums
Not including a link to the "official" (I hope) website because it just says, "unlock free download with a social share." It's a drum synth, available as VST and AU plugins.
Surge XT*
A VST2/VST3/CLAP/standalone synth. It can do quite a bit.
winget install SurgeSynthTeam.SurgeXT
Tape Cassette 2
A tape simulator/emulator thing.
TX16wX
A software sampler that can load various soundfonts and other things like that.
Valhalla free plugins
Several great reverb/delay plugins, available as VST2/VST3/AAX/AU plugins.
*
A VST2/VST3/AU/LV2standalone synth. The only source code that has been made publicly available hasn't been updated since April 2022, but it's still source code. I sort of prefer this to Surge XT. They both do similar things, but Vital is much more intuitive, although slightly more CPU-hungry.
WaveForm Free built-in stuff
Waveform Free comes with several plugins, but as far as I can tell, they probably aren't in a format that can be used anywhere else. But it does have a reasonable synth, several effects, a rompler, and a couple of other things.
XOXOS plugins
A ton of (unfortunately 32-bit) VST plugins, including instruments and effects.