My favorite 8 Windows 11 apps that put Microsoft’s default offerings to shame

Windows 11 first launched back in October 2021, serving as the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship desktop operating system. One of the hallmarks of the Windows OS is its deep backwards compatibility with legacy programs and software.

Over the course of decades, third-party developers have had the opportunity to home in on crafting excellent applications that rival those that Microsoft itself has built and bundled into Windows. Here are 8 third-party apps — some newer and some older — that genuinely outclass a number of the built-in Windows 11 programs that ship with the platform.

1 Notepad++

Notepad++

A free replacement for the built-in Windows Notepad app, Notepad++ offers a ton of extra options and settings not found in Microsoft’s native solution.

Windows has shipped with a basic word processing and text editor app known as Notepad for many, many years now. After a period of neglect, Microsoft has finally started adding in features and updating the interface of Notepad, as of the Windows 11 era.

Even so, the free third-party alternative known as Notepad++ remains a popular choice among Windows users, and for good reason — the app offers tons of word formatting options in a lightweight package, all within an attractive yet familiar user interface.

The app is so practical, in fact, that even former president of the Windows Division at Microsoft, Steven Sinofsky, admits to using it. If you’re looking for something more powerful than Notepad, but less complex than, say, Microsoft Word, then Notepad++ is a great solution.

2 paint.net

paint.net

A free image and photo editing app that offers many tools and features not found in the default Paint app that ships in Windows 11.

Much like in the case of Notepad, the Windows operating system has shipped with a basic image editing app — known as Paint — from just about the very beginning. There are plenty of advanced photo editors available on Windows, but only a couple are available for free while offering a relatively easy-to-get-used-to user interface.

paint.net is perhaps the most beloved Paint alternative, with GIMP perhaps coming in at a close second. paint.net managed to win a Microsoft Store App Award back in 2022, due in no small part to its intuitive user interface, support for both layers and plugins, its unlimited undo function, and more. paint.net is free from the developer’s website, but you can choose to download it from the Microsoft Store for $10 if you’d like to support the team.

3 PicPick

A Windows Snipping Tool alternative for screen capturing and recording

PicPick

A screen capture and recording tool that offers up plenty of additional tools and settings not found in Microsoft’s default Snipping Tool app on Windows 11.

Microsoft’s default Windows Snipping Tool is a fan favorite application, making it dead simple to screenshot, crop, and record the content on your PC screen. PicPick is a third-party alternative that packs plenty of additional features into the mix.

Screen capturing and recording is incredibly easy to accomplish with PicPick, with useful features like a color picker, a color palette, a pixel-ruler, a crosshair, a whiteboard, and the ability for the app to live within your PC’s system tray for convenient access.

PicPick is free for personal use, with a ‘For Professionals’ version available for $30. This upgrade brings auto updating, premium technical support, and a fully ad-free experience into the app.

4 Files

A gorgeous and fluid alternative to the default File Explorer

Files

An aesthetically pleasing file browser that offers up an experience that looks and feel more native than Microsoft’s own Windows 11 File Explorer app.

Microsoft has taken major strides in recent years when it comes to modernizing its Windows File Explorer app. Unfortunately, there are a number of interface and underlying code elements that haven’t been updated yet in accordance to Windows 11 design principles.

That’s where the free third-party Files app comes in — it’s beautifully crafted, with fluid animations and a design language that feels right at home on Windows. It’s also quite fully featured, with support for more advanced features such as tabs, tags, archival editing, and more.

5 Wino Mail

A native-feeling email client that leaves Microsoft’s new web-based Outlook in the dust

Wino Mail

An alternative email client for Windows 11 that’s built using native user interface principles, and one that seriously outclasses Microsoft’s new web-based Outlook app. 

WIth the upcoming release of the Windows 11 2024 update, Microsoft is officially phasing out its Mail, Calendar, and People apps in favor of a unified web-based Outlook client app. This decision has proven deeply controversial, with many users loathing the company’s unwillingness to engineer apps using its own native app frameworks.

Thankfully, Wino Mail is available, serving as a third-party spiritual successor to the now-defunct Windows Mail. Wino is fast, fluid, touch-friendly, and offers a native design language — all of which are features that Microsoft’s new Outlook app painfully lacks. Wino is free to use with up to three mail accounts, and there’s an unlimited account option available for purchase if you need the added flexibility.

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6 Lively Weather

A weather application with beautiful and dynamic DirectX-based visuals

Speaking of web apps, the aforementioned new Outlook email client isn’t the only offender within Windows 11 — the default Weather experience on Windows is a website masquerading as an app, and it’s not pretty to look at.

Instead, do yourself a favor and download the wonderful Lively Weather for free from the Microsoft Store. The app is native and open-source, and includes some gorgeous DirectX-based graphics that animate according to weather conditions. It’s so well done, that I use the built-in full screen mode on a daily basis.

If you’re looking for something lighter, but equally native and open source, then the same developer has also published the excellent FluentWeather app onto the Microsoft Store. SimpleWeather is another native app that I’d say is worth a look at, as well.

A tried-and-true media player replacement that’ll open just about any media file you throw at it

VLC Media Player for Windows

A free and open-source media player app that supports playback of a shockingly broad range of multimedia file types.

This wouldn’t be a third-party Windows application list without the inclusion of VLC Media Player. The app has achieved a sort of legendary status over the years, famed for its ability to open up stubborn music and video files that just don’t want to play nice with other programs.

The app is free and open-source, but it does lack the attractive interface that you’ll find on the default Media Player app that ships with Windows 11. Nevertheless, VLC is an indispensable tool to have at your side, and in my opinion, Windows doesn’t feel complete without a copy of good old VLC installed and nestled somewhere in the Start Menu.

8 WinRAR

A legendary compression and unzipping tool that brings advanced options not found on Windows by default

WinRAR

A well-known compression tool that offers plenty of archival and extractor options not found natively in Microsoft’s File Explorer app.

Over the course of the last couple of Windows 11 feature updates, Microsoft has been implementing a number of new archival tools directly into File Explorer. It’s now possible to zip and unzip files without the need for any third-party software, and some basic configuration settings are even available via a new helper window.

Of course, for anything beyond the most basic file compression use cases, you’ll still want to download a full-featured archival program onto your PC. WinRAR is arguably the most infamous of them all, due to its seemingly unlimited “40 day free trial” system that has been memed to the moon and back.

Other popular solutions like 7-Zip and WinZip are also well-loved, but nothing hits home quite like WinRAR, at least in my opinion. If you find yourself frequently dealing with compressed files and zipped folders, and you want something with a little extra oomph than Windows can natively provide, then WinRAR is an excellent choice indeed.