Your laptop had a full charge at the start of the day, but by noon, you're reaching for the outlet to refill the battery. The battery percentage kept dropping even though you didn’t stream anything or run a demanding task. That’s because Windows 11 isn’t sitting idle while you work. In the background, a quiet parade of apps, services, and sync routines run constantly in the background — none of which you ever asked for. The good news is that you can stop most of them.

When you set up a brand-new Windows PC, you probably want to get through the setup screens as quickly as possible so you can start using your shiny new computer. That makes it easy to click through Microsoft's privacy options without paying much attention to what you've actually enabled. One of those settings allows Microsoft to collect samples of what you type or write.

Windows Media Player (WMP) used to be the best. It didn't quite whip the Llama's behind, but I remember a time when it was fantastic. But, as these things tend to do, it got worse over time. Streaming came along, people shifted away from local media players, and Microsoft just shifted its focus elsewhere. Windows 11 replaced it with Media Player, but you can still access the legacy version of WMP. Better media players that could handle more formats appeared, and Microsoft kept breaking WMP features. WMP lost me completely last yearwhen I tried to rip a brand-new CD I bought and discovered the database that used to pull metadata no longer worked (the CD in question was Richard Thompson’s The Old Kit Bag, if you're curious). Fortunately, there are a bunch of fantastic open-source alternatives. Here are some of my favorites.

For most of my Windows-using life, there was an annual ritual we all got to know very well. When your computer started getting slow and creaky, you'd back up all your files to a separate medium, format your system disk, and reinstall Windows.

After years of complaints about how little you could customize the Windows Start menu, Microsoft is finally overhauling it in the 26H2 update. In reality, though, they are only catching up to something an open-source app figured out years ago. Meet Flow Launcher, a keyboard-first app launcher that is superior to the current Start menu from all directions.

Windows 11 and its native apps don't have the best reputation. Microsoft has packed the system with all kinds of features, making it feel increasingly bloated.

I've used PuTTY for years. It's a great program that has lasted this long because it does one thing really well. When I need to connect to another computer over SSH, PuTTY gets the job done without a lot of extra stuff getting in the way. I know how it works, I trust it, and I've never had much reason to replace it.

An operating system is only as good as the apps you can run on it, but some apps go beyond that and end up defining the operating system. You seek them out, usually on day one of setting up a new PC, because Windows just feels incomplete without them. Here are three such apps that are so good that they define their entire categories — earning them the title of “greatest of all time.”

If you're new to Linux and switching from Windows to Linux, there are some mistakes you want to avoid. Avoiding common beginner mistakes in Linux will put you ahead of the other Linux newbies.

Microsoft included a number of really helpful features and tools in past versions of Windows that many users came to love. While some of these utilities have survived the transition to Windows 11, others were left by the wayside. Some even made it to Windows 11, only to be retired in one of its subsequent updates. Here are some of my favorite classic Windows tools that are missing from Windows 11, with the latest version of Windows still lacking equivalent features.

Like a lot of Windows users, I resisted Linux for years for two main reasons. I expected a steep learning curve, and I assumed I'd have to give up some of the Windows apps I rely on every day. Either one is enough to make switching feel like more trouble than it's worth.

Microsoft's PowerToys suite of Windows utilities, which you can download from GitHub or install through the Microsoft Store, has earned a reputation as a tool designed for — and used exclusively by — Windows power users. But the reality is more nuanced.

There's no denying that Microsoft has been stuffing many of Windows' default apps with superfluous features, turning them into bloated pieces of software filled with (mostly) AI features no one needs, with the Copilot-infested Notepad being a prime example.

I'm one of those people who presses Alt+Tab hundreds of times a day to bounce between the many windows I have open. The problem is that Windows' built-in switcher starts to get awkward when I have lots of windows open, and aside from choosing how many thumbnails to display, there's not much room for customization.

WinRAR is probably one of the most common third-party apps found on countless Windows PCs around the world, and for good reason. While it's technically paid software, you can use it for as long as you like without paying a dime, it handles a wide selection of archive formats, and it resides in the Windows context menu, so you don't even have to open it to use it.

I consider myself a Windows power user these days, but I wasn't always. I can remember when the command line seemed like something programmers used, and I stayed out of it unless I absolutely had to. Even now, opening Windows Terminal and seeing a blinking cursor can make what you're about to do feel more complicated than it really is.

I have an annoying habit in Excel. Whenever I want to switch to another worksheet, I instinctively press Alt+Tab. I know that's not what the shortcut does, but years of using it to jump between apps have made the habit almost impossible to break. So I found a way to make it work.

You may have been using Windows for years. You might love it, hate it, or just wonder if there's a real alternative. Here are the reasons to tell if you've outgrown Windows and should consider checking out Linux.

You have it way easier these days, but back in the day, when you wanted to play a game on your PC, you had to take a similar approach to consoles. Go to a physical store, get a disc, then pop it into your PC. Chances are, though, that nowadays your PC doesn't have a CD drive. So what do you do when you want to play your old games on your new PC?

Windows 11 has a robust virtual desktop feature, but it is rather basic. It probably doesn't help that Microsoft only built its own virtual desktop solution long after Linux and macOS had shown us what they could do.