I have to use Windows on my work computer and I am finding it hard to get FOSS applications on Windows that can do stuff like
- Record a video (like SimpleVideoRecorder does)
- Take a screenshot (there’s snip, but it isn’t very customizable)
- Unzip .zip files
Just the routine things I used to take for granted on Linux, so I was wondering if there was a FOSS app store for Windows
And it would be very helpful if someone could suggest alternative for
- SimpleVideoRecorder
- Archive Manager
Even the apps I installed for these things either had ads or asked me for payment to record more than 2 minutes of video, I am pretty sure there are FOSS apps to do these things out there, but I don’t know where :')
- OBS Studio, or even Xbox Game Bar (built-in, but might be disabled at your work PC)
- ShareX
- 7-Zip
For video recording I use OBS and for zip files I use 7-Zip
7zip doesn’t support the new win11 rightclick menu (yet), nanazip is a fork with full win11 support:
I’m using 7zip on win11. You need to get into the old context menu to see it tho. You can edit the registry to make the old one the default too.
No idea why it’s a registry edit but Microsoft will do what they willYes that is another option. I know 7zip works there, win11 is mostly the same as win7 under the hood, but I would install a supported frontend instead of fiddling with the registry, tweaks like that can break after updates
I don’t use windows personally, just set it up for others. I don’t care enough to tweak the registry for them, if there are more convenient solutions
I use win11 at work sadly so I’m stick with it there. I find the new context menu unusable so I prefer the old one
tweakui can fix this
tweaks like that can break after updates
That’s a perspective. I think 11 is broken that it does not show the expected context menu items that programs still put there, but it just ignores it.
I don’t care enough to tweak the registry for them, if there are more convenient solutions
If you set it once and export the reg key, it’s just a double click on the reg file for any future PCs.
LibreOffice for replacing Microsoft Office
ODF for OOXML.
Linux is replacing Windows
LibreOffice works on Windows too.
I have to use Windows
- Run a virtual machine
- Install your goto Linux distro
- Drink a cup of ☕ and pet a 😺 while it’s installing
- Happy hacking!
The only problem is the resource management, if you are using something like MX Linux and you have good amount of RAM, you can do this, I have 8GBs of RAM and even Windows 10 runs into resource issues when I am using it casually (forget working on it).
WSL2 exists for the very reason, if you hate using Windblows, you can install Linux OS on top and do everything from the Linux VM. Why even bother struggling with Windozes interface and software ?
ShareX and .7z
- Windows has built in simple zip manager. If you need more, go with 7-zip as others suggested.
For screenshots look at Greenshot.
@Subject6051 Most of apps famous in linux are available on windows.
Funny part is while joining Linux we searched alternatives and now for leaving it we need alternatives 😅
Indeed! I gotmyself accustomed to a routine of using featherpad instead of notepad, using Kpaint instead of paint, it’s weird to be back. “Hey Windows, it’s me again, I hate you, but I have been told I must use you.”
Pretty weird, it’s getting back at me by showing me the wrong time every time I login! :')
Yeah, I use a tiling WM at home, so having to deal with Windows’ way of doing things at college computers was very annoying, especially when the Super+L keybind I used to Launch apps, was used on Windows to Lock the machine. Locking your PC while trying to open an app is very, very annoying.
For screenshots I recommend Greenshot. Simple to use and good annotation tools.
There’s this: https://github.com/lextrack/Simple-Screen-Recorder
Disclaimer: I haven’t touched Windows in at least a decade.
Thank you! This would have been great if I didn’t get to know about ShareX, FOSS app and it manages screenshots and screenrecordings with many many more features! God bless the devs!
Check out scoop and chocolatey
And winget.
I have to use Windows on my work computer and I am finding it hard to get FOSS applications on Windows that can do stuff like
The Gold standard in the screen recording world is OBS. It’s not only available for Linux, but also for Windows and, well, is the gold standard. If you ask the question if OBS can do this-or-that regarding screen recording, the answer generally is yes (or “yes, via plugin”). Just use OBS on all platforms, it’s clearly the most mature screen recording tool out there.
You can even use it as a virtual camera. I’ve had lots of fun with that one in meetings.
I used Game Bar to record my videos back in the day. But it’s just too basic.
Doesn’t the snipping tool also allow video capture now?
To be fair, these tools are all already built-in
- Xbox Game Bar (Win+G)
- Windows screenshot (Win+S)
- File Explorer (Win+E) can handle .zip, even preview them quite nicely.
I realise these are not open source (and others have already given great open-source options I would give, as well). But you’re using Windows already, so why not use Windows?
File explorer’s built in archiver is still lagging behind, while it’s mostly usable, last time I tried to open a password protected rar, and it didn’t show a pw dialog just failed silently. 7zip opened it correctly
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Just one little addition: win+shift+s for snipping tool. Let’s you select a region, window or whole screen.
Yeah but those tools are very inferior. The GUI of 7z is much better for any task, it even adds right click shortcuts to common actions to your files. Same with greenshot. Haven’t ever used the game bar’s recorder so can’t tell about that, but once you learn the very basics of OBS (which is the location of the record button) it’s much more flexible, even without that flexibility being in the way.
Video recorder: OBS
Screenshot utility: built into most desktops
Archive manager: Built into most file managers
