A couple of months ago, I posted My Defaults and My Software EDC, but that was when I was in an Apple-only ecosystem. Since then, I’ve bought my first PC in 15 years that I love and adore and use every day. There’s no way I’m going to ditch my MacBook Air for something that has Windows on it (Apple machines are of better quality and I love macOS on laptops), but I think on desktop, Windows is working actually really, really well.

Let’s start with the defaults first, and then I’m going to provide you with some more content regarding my software EDC because that has to change a lot since I’m on Windows more than I’m on macOS.

📨 Mail Client: I use Fastmail for personal use and Gmail for work. Therefore, on iOS, I use mail.app + Gmail, on macOS I use browsers only, and on Windows, I use a browser only too.

📮 Mail Server: Fastmail for personal use, Google for Work.

📝 Notes: Obsidian and Tot for quick notes, but I’m moving my quick notes more and more to…

✅ To-Do: Microsoft To Do! It’s quick, easy, multi-platform, and costs nothing. It isn’t Things, but it works pretty well for me. For work, I’m using Akiflow because it combines tasks with a calendar.

📷 iPhone Photo Shooting: Camera.app, but I’m using Canon G5X Mark II and Sony A6000 for photography more.

🟦 Photo Management: Lightroom + Photos in iCloud.

📆 Calendar: Calendar on iOS, Akiflow on Windows and Mac.

📁 Cloud File Storage: iCloud + Backblaze B2.

📖 RSS: FreshRSS + Reeder on iOS/Mac and browser/Fluent Reader for Windows. I’m trying to use Fluent Reader, but my brain doesn’t work the way Fluent Reader works, so I’m using the iPhone more for RSS.

🙍🏻‍♂️ Contacts: Contacts.

🌐 Browser: Arc isn’t yet available for Windows (at least for me), so I’m using Arc Search on iOS, and then Microsoft Edge for personal browsing on macOS + Windows and Chrome for work.

💬 Chat: Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp, Slack.

🔖 Bookmarks: Browser.

📑 Read It Later: Good Links, but since it’s not on Windows, I’m going to have to find some alternatives (I’m not really reading the stuff I’m putting there, so maybe I just shouldn’t bother).

📜 Word Processing: Obsidian.

🤖 Mastodon: Ivory on Apple-things and browser on Windows.

📖 Blog: micro.blog and Day One.

📈 Spreadsheets: Google Thing.

📊 Presentations: Google Thing.

🛒 Shopping Lists: My wife and I just send each other messages about what to get.

💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance: YNAB.

🎵 Music: Spotify (but I do have an Apple Music sub that’s just there).

🎤 Podcasts: Pocket Casts.

🎮 Gaming: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Anbernic RG35XX.

🔐 Password Management: 1Password.

👨🏻‍💻 Terminal: WebSSH on iOS/macOS and Hyper on Windows.

Now onto my software EDC:

Let’s start with the first custom thing here because the rest of it isn’t interesting.

  1. qbittorent - for my Linux-distribution-downloading needs.
  2. 1Password.
  3. Hyper - my terminal of choice for Windows.
  4. Edge - personal browser.
  5. Obsidian.
  6. Sticky Notes - I find myself using them sometimes, so I find it handy to have them there.
  7. Apple Music.
  8. Spotify.
  9. Pocket Casts.
  10. Microsoft To Do.
  11. Apple TV app - no idea why but hey, it’s here.
  12. Amazon Prime Video - I haven’t ever used it, but I thought to myself why not.
  13. Raindrop - oh, that’s the app I’m trying for bookmarks and read later! I’m not using it, though, not at all.
  14. Fluent Reader - RSS reader with FreshRSS support.
  15. Element - Not really using that, but if I ever want to, it’s here.
  16. Discord - some friends are using that and the game I’m playing (Torn) moved from Torn’s chat onto Discord.
  17. Signal.
  18. Telegram.
  19. WhatsApp.
  20. Parsify is a calculator that works just like Soulver on macOS worked, I love it.
  21. Chatbox is my ChatGPT app of choice, works perfectly fine - better than any apps I’ve found on macOS!
  22. Slack.
  23. Akiflow.
  24. Gmail somehow turned into an app.
  25. Chrome.
  26. RePOS App (the thing I’m working on in my day job).
  27. Twitch streaming app (I’m not streaming, yet!).
  28. Epic Games Launcher.
  29. Steam Launcher.
  30. Minecraft Launcher.
  31. Xbox App.

The things that you weren’t able to see but they are here:

  1. Flameshot for screenshots - I wish there was Cleanshot X for Windows, but there isn’t, so I’m using that instead.
  2. Adobe Creative Cloud - Lightroom + Photoshop. I’ve got it, I’m using it most days, didn’t bother to put it in the taskbar, though.
  3. NextDNS is always open and in use.
  4. Hurl is the app I’m using to always give me an option to pick which browser I should use. As I said, I’m using Chrome for Work and Edge for personal, so whenever I’m opening a link on Slack or Telegram, it asks me which browser should it be opened with. I think there’s a way to make it automatic to open links from Slack always with Chrome, but I’m not bothered by that (sometimes I’m using Edge for links from Slack, so let’s say this is a desired behavior).
  5. Tailscale is my VPN of choice to connect with all of my different servers.

That’s it - my defaults and EDC in one long entry. I hope that makes it easier for people to see what apps they could use, especially when they’re on Windows. If you have any questions or recommendations, just shout!