Top 10 Best Free Software to Install Immediately After Getting a New Laptop

LibreOffice is a free, open-source office suite that’s powerful and easy to use. Available for Windows, MacOS, and GNU/Linux, LibreOffice includes six applications that cover all your data processing and document publishing needs: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math, and Base. You can get help and resources from a vast user community and even contribute to the development of the software. LibreOffice is a comprehensive office suite that provides professional-quality productivity tools you can freely download and install. It's widely used and translated into over 30 languages for all operating systems, including Windows, MacOS, and GNU/Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva, OpenSUSE, ...).

No Windows user should miss out on LibreOffice. It’s a robust, completely free office suite with alternatives to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. Once you get accustomed to a few minor aesthetic differences compared to MS Office, you’ll be able to get your work done effortlessly with LibreOffice.

Download Link: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download-libreoffice/

Paint.NET is a free image editing software for Windows that offers powerful features capable of competing with industry giants like Adobe Photoshop, Corel, and Microsoft Photo Editor. Designed by Rick Brewster and currently distributed by dotPDN, LLC, Paint.NET is user-friendly, making it an excellent tool for creating stunning artwork. It runs smoothly even on low-end CPUs, particularly useful for older machines. If you’re experiencing lag with software like Photoshop or Corel, Paint.NET may be a viable alternative. With its comprehensive toolkit, it’s well-equipped for image editing and design tasks.

Paint.NET allows you to edit individual layers and keep track of which layer you're working on, a feature commonly found in Photoshop and other image editing software. You can easily monitor open images and ongoing edits directly from the software's interface. Additionally, Paint.NET boasts many useful features for fast and efficient editing, including a user-friendly online forum and automatic updates for new features, bug fixes, and improvements. It offers a variety of effects to enhance your images, such as blur, sharpening, red-eye removal, distortion, 3D zoom, and more. The software also supports unlimited edit history with an Undo feature.

Download Link: https://www.dotpdn.com/downloads/pdn.html

Adware, malicious software, and viruses that harm computers and smartphones are a major concern for many users. The best way to address this worry is through Malwarebytes. This software provides robust protection against a wide range of threats, from viruses to sophisticated malware, on platforms like Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Developed by Malwarebytes Corporation, it offers several features such as Anti Malware, Endpoint Security, and Anti Exploit. It is available in both a free and Premium version for personal use, with an additional Business version for enterprise customers. While Malwarebytes isn't primarily focused on virus detection, it still offers a reliable alternative for protection, especially against advanced malware and threats.

The features of Malwarebytes extend beyond virus removal, enabling detection and blocking of various types of malware, trojans, spyware, worms, ransomware, and more. With Heuristics technology, Malwarebytes can identify potential threats to your computer and data, providing comprehensive protection. The software offers different scanning levels, including Threat Scan, Hyper Scan, and Custom Scan, ensuring an accurate and thorough defense against harmful threats.

Download Link: https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038479134-Download-and-install-Malwarebytes-for-Windows

VLC Media Player, commonly known as VLC, is a versatile application for playing music, watching movies, and performing other entertainment-related tasks on your computer. It stands out for its simple, user-friendly interface and its wide array of useful features. VLC supports numerous video file formats, allows you to stream online radio, and even provides basic editing tools for your multimedia files. Despite its impressive functionality, VLC is lightweight, ensuring a smooth experience without taking up much storage space. VLC is an ideal media player for both music and video playback, offering a fast, streamlined experience.

VLC is available across multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, making it easy to switch between devices while using it. Despite its rich feature set, VLC is completely free and does not bombard users with ads or riskier tracking software. Besides playing movies and music, VLC can be used for live streaming or watching TV online. It is compatible with a variety of video file formats and can even play from webcams, discs, and other sources. VLC ensures that users can watch videos or listen to music with high quality without paying a cent, and even stream videos to others over a private network or share them on the internet.

Download Link: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

ShareX is a popular open-source screen capture and screen recording software for Windows. It's completely free and packed with an extensive range of features that you'll find hard to fully utilize. ShareX offers automatic screenshot modes and a robust editing suite that rivals even the most professional editing tools. You can easily upload your images and videos to platforms such as Imgur, Google Drive, Dropbox, MEGA, and hundreds of other services. With support for multiple languages, including Vietnamese, ShareX is a versatile tool that you should definitely try.

ShareX comes with a wide variety of settings and features. While it might seem overwhelming at first, you'll get the hang of it quickly after a few uses. Upon opening ShareX, it prompts you to adjust your screenshot hotkeys to avoid conflicts with other software, such as SnagIT. ShareX 14 introduced offline OCR (Optical Character Recognition), which enables you to extract text from images without requiring an internet connection. This version also allows you to copy text to your clipboard, upload it, or process it in other ways. ShareX’s multi-functional capabilities allow you to upload videos directly to Google Drive or any of the other supported services straight from the application.

Download Link: https://getsharex.com/

In addition to popular archiving software like WinRAR or WinZip, there's another powerful and convenient tool called 7-Zip. This free and open-source software is designed for compressing and extracting files. It uses the 7z format, which offers higher compression efficiency compared to other formats. This feature helps reduce data usage during uploads and downloads, saves disk space, and frees up space on storage devices. However, one downside of 7-Zip is its lower popularity among general users. So, if you send someone a 7z file, they might mistake it for a virus, and you'll need to explain how to open the file.

7-Zip is considered one of the best free archiving tools available today. Even when compared to renowned commercial software like WinRAR and WinZip, 7-Zip holds its ground. Its excellent features, integration into the context menu (right-click menu), and simple interface make it user-friendly. A major strength of 7-Zip is that it's a free, open-source program with a straightforward design and support for the Vietnamese language. It can extract almost all common formats today and even repair corrupted archives—something users find superior to WinRAR. The biggest advantage of 7-Zip is its strong compression ability and faster extraction speed compared to WinRAR.

Download Link: https://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Rambox is a free software and project management browser that allows you to manage multiple applications in one environment. This browser helps by keeping all your apps in a single place, making it perfect for individuals, organizations, or businesses that require multitasking and switching between several applications. Developed by Rambox LLC, the software eliminates the need to open multiple tabs or use different tools to manage projects, communicate with teams, check emails, and use other online office tools or web apps. This makes it especially useful for different types of teams, particularly in marketing fields.

Rambox is ideal for those who rely on multiple apps for their work. With this tool, you no longer need to download separate apps or open them all in your browser since it supports most web app services like Gmail, Google Duo, Facebook, Discord, and even Android Messages. Additionally, it offers useful features like Do Not Disturb mode, master password protection, session lock, and more. While it's called a browser, don't confuse it with a traditional web browser. Its special feature is that it operates like a browser that contains all the apps you need. Unfortunately, despite its impressive functionality, the app can be challenging for first-time users and may take time to get used to. This is because the UI/UX design is not very user-friendly, and upon opening the app, users are greeted with a list of apps that might overwhelm them initially.

Download Link: https://rambox.softonic.vn/

Google Chrome is a must-have tool for anyone using a computer. It is a basic yet powerful web browser. Developed by Google, this free, open-source web browser was launched on December 11, 2008, supporting 43 languages. Google Chrome is widely used to access information on the World Wide Web. Besides supporting multiple operating systems and platforms, Chrome also supports web standards like CSS and HTML5. It was the first browser to combine the search box and address bar for a smoother user experience. Chrome is perfect for users who need to search the web and enjoy discovering new things, and it also allows them to share useful information with others.

Initially, Google Chrome was released as a beta version on September 2, 2008, with support for 43 languages on the Windows operating system. Upon its release, Google Chrome quickly captured nearly 1% of the browser market. Soon after, Google announced that the stable version for other platforms and languages would be available. Known for its high security, Chrome is regularly updated by Google to ensure user protection. Chrome also features automatic updates when connected to the internet, along with security measures such as blocking malicious websites, detecting and removing harmful software, and ensuring secure connections to websites. Additionally, Chrome offers various extensions like bookmarks, multi-tab support, language translation, ad blocking, and more, enhancing the overall browsing experience.

Download Link: https://www.google.com/chrome/

Another highly essential software that holds the second spot is Google Drive. It is a cloud storage and file synchronization service created by Google that allows users to store, share, and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with collaborators. Google Drive includes Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides—a suite of office tools that enables the editing of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, forms, and more. Google Drive offers apps for all major platforms, ensuring you can access your files from anywhere. Besides syncing files in your dedicated Google Drive folder, the desktop app also helps back up folders on your computer and external devices.

When you start using a Google Drive account, you get 15 GB of free storage to begin with. This storage can be used across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos, with an option to keep image quality intact by preserving the original file size. Files in Drive remain private until you choose to share them. You can easily invite others to view, comment on, or edit any file or folder you select. Simply snap a photo of documents like receipts, letters, and invoices, and Drive will instantly save them as PDF files. Google Drive is accessible from any smartphone, tablet, or computer, allowing you to use it wherever you go. Sharing files with others is quick and seamless, and the service integrates smoothly with Google's productivity suite. Whether you're using it for backup, as a cloud-based flash drive, or to set up shared folders with others, Google Drive makes collaboration and file management effortless.

Download Link: https://www.google.com/intl/vi/drive/download/

Spotify is one of the giants in the online music streaming world, boasting over 100 million users and a library of more than 35 million songs. If you're used to the traditional way of listening to music through offline players, searching and playing songs, you won’t be disappointed by Spotify. By using this service, you can free up massive storage space, replacing it with a high-quality music library. With over 40 million tracks, it stands as one of the largest public music repositories, offering licensed tracks that are secure from piracy. Spotify uses the Ogg Vorbis format at 320 kbps or higher, ensuring smooth, high-quality sound with no issues from low-quality or illegal sources. While some imperfections may still occur from the original tracks, Spotify ensures fast updates with new songs, including a wide selection of Vpop hits in Vietnam. The playlists are updated daily, delivering 1-6 new lists based on your listening habits. The more you listen, the more Your Daily Mixes will perfectly match your musical taste.

Download link: https://www.spotify.com/vn-vi/download/windows/