Here are 12 Windows Store apps for your new Windows 10 PC

Nothing beats that feeling of laying your hands on some new hardware and I'm pretty sure that some of you out there have picked up a new device or received a gift in conjunction with the holiday season. I have personally gotten myself the new surface pro 4 and you can read about my first impressions of the device in my previous article. Well If you have recently gotten your hands on a new Windows 10 powered computer (or even a Mac) or if you want to see what apps that I use on a daily basis, here is a list of my must have apps on a computer.

My first week with the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 — "The deep hardware and software integration allows the Surface Pen to perform at it's tip top condition without any latency issues compared to other third party apps. I am quite happy with Windows 10 so far and I have been using it since it was made available to everyone" Continue reading.

First off, I would go to www.ninite.com and start selecting a few applications from the list and download the installer so that I don’t need to go to a bunch of different sites to get the download packages. I have been using ninite for quite some time now and it is a very useful tool quickly get started. Then I continue the installation process with other programs like Photoshop and visual studio which are not available on ninite. Finally, the last thing I'll do on Windows 10 specifically is to uninstall the get skype and get office app.

Google Chrome

My browser of choice is Google Chrome. Chrome might not be the most resource friendly browser available but the main reason why I choose it is because of Google's excellent syncing. Setting, themes, passwords, browsing history can be easily docked onto a new computer or phone. It's also worth noting that Chrome extensions are second to none, maybe I'll give edge a try when extensions finally get there.

Download Google Chrome

Microsoft Office

Second to none is the full Office suite. Besides Chrome, this is what I am using every single day. More specifically, I am glued to OneNote and this is where I do most of my planning and where I keep my articles before they are published. Also on top of the list is Outlook, I am like a believer of a solid email client and OneNote is just right for me, lots of extra formatting while not as stylish as the Windows 10 Mail app, it does have more features like advanced signature formatting and better file indexing. And, there's also Excel and Word which I turn on from time to time to complete extra work.

Download Microsoft Office

Dropbox

There's something that I have yet to blog about and that is my migration from Dropbox to OneDrive basically because the free 50GB of storage ended. But while my main cloud storage service is OneDrive (which is conveniently built right into Windows 10), I still rely on Dropbox mainly because it syncs files and photos much quicker than OneDrive and the fact that I need it to collaborate with others as Dropbbox is a popular service amongst the crowd.

Download Dropbox

Tweetdeck

In terms of social media, I am always on both Twitter and Facebook. For facebook, I would usually opt for the web app but for Twitter, my choice would be Tweetdeck. In case you are unfamiliar with Tweetdeck, it is like the Twitter web client on steroids. What Tweetdeck allows me to do is to have the modularity to view tweets. From monitoring hashtags to having a dedicated stream for mentions, Tweetdeck is a powerful tool for use with multiple accounts. But as an average users, Tweetdeck is not too overkill, you can just take advantage of the multiple timeline support to stalk your friends.

Download Tweetdeck

Visual Studio Code 

I am a student after all and for the code editor, I switch between Brackets by Adobe and Visual Studio Code from Microsoft. The former is much more suited towards web design and the latter is perfect for everything else. Even if you are not into programming, installing a third party code editor will also benefit you as a code editor not only has syntax highlighting and is a step up from the Windows Notepad. Plus, the installed package is just shy of 60mb for either.

Download Visual Studio Code

Download Brackets

GitHub

In the theme of programming, I also always have GitHub lying around on my taskbar even though I sometimes neglect it for a while. Version control is very much an important thing to have when developing a software application as it helps to fix bugs and also to work on the same project across different computers.

Download GitHub Desktop

PuTTY

Yet another application that I use during programming. This source window is especially useful when I'm dealing with the Raspberry Pi. Bottom line, PuTTY is something like a command line interface and you can connect to various development boards and hardware like the Raspberry Pi or Arduino to compile code or look through the file system. This program is a little on the geeky side so you can avoid downloading this if you are not into the maker electronics.

Download PuTTY

Bing Desktop

If you read my previous review of Microsoft's Bing Desktop app, you will know why I love it so much. To cut things short, Bing Desktop gives me a fresh new wallpaper every single day and the news tabs is quite convenient from time to time. Read more about the Bing Desktop app for Windows in my previous review.

Download Bing Desktop

Photoshop

Well, this application does not need further introduction. Basically, I use Photoshop to top pictures or graphics with extra layers. Photoshop is a powerful tool (and also takes up quite a chunk of the computers' resources) and I only switch to using it when the simple photo editor can't do the job. Other than that, I also have also installed Illustrator and several other Adobe application which is needed for some projects.

Download Adobe Photoshop

Photoscape

As for simpler edits like changing the exposure or resizing a picture, my lightweight photo editor of choice is Photoscape. The app itself loads as quick as the file explorer editing images in batches is much more simpler than loading it onto Photoshop.

Download Photoscape

Skype

I do use Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp and Google Hangouts on the browser but as a standalone service, Skype is something that I use to make video calls just because it is more accessible and the fact that there's more people on Skype than on Google Hangouts.

Download Skype for Windows 

VLC

Say all you want but VLC is probably the best media player out that. It launches quicker than Windows Media player and is able to open just about any video files. Plus it is also able to stream the Apple keynotes but Microsoft Edge is capable of that too.

Download VLC

Wunderlist

This is the only Windows Store application on this list and like OneNote, I am also heavily dependent on OneNote as I use it to keep track of my daily tasks.

Download Wunderlist