5 free apps to turn your PC into a Mac
As someone who bounces between Windows and Mac, these are the essential tools that make life in the Windows world SO much better
As the most popular operating system for personal computers, Windows has been around for decades and is even better with the new release of Windows 11. Even though it’s a mature operating system, there are a few (free) add ons that can make life on the OS so much easier. Here’s my top 5 that I use on the daily.
Quicklook
Ever since moving from MacOS, I’ve always missed the ability to hit the spacebar and get a preview of the file I had selected. Never fear! Quicklook is here to basically replicate that exact function!
It’s a super light weight app that does one thing and does it well.
Snapdrop
One thing that Apple has done well is Airdrop, where you can easily transfer files between your devices. If you’ve got Airdrop FOMO, then Snapdrop is for you! Just head to the link with both devices and can select files to transfer files from one to the other easily! The only requirement is that both devices need to be on the same WiFi network.
Wox
Mac might have the spotlight bar, but Windows has Wox! This simple launcher can be accessed with a custom keyboard combination and can be used to quickly launch apps and find files.
It’s also extensible with a whole library of plugins to expand the capabilities.
aText
Ok so Mac doesn’t have a text expander built in per se, but this free app is just so useful that I had to include it in the list. This is one of the first apps I always configure in a new system. I have some shortcuts set-up such as “.gmail” for my gmail address, “.tel” for my telephone number. Basically, you can set up your own text shortcuts for any frequently used piece of text with your own shortcut and easily fill out forms and documents with your own shorthand!
Supports simple and rich text too!
Microsoft Powertoys
This one feels like cheating because this is actually a collection of little apps directly from Microsoft. These are small powerful add-ons that SERIOUSLY pack a punch. These are constantly updated with new features and new apps.
As of writing, the Powertoys include:
- Always on Top — does what the name suggests and helps keep a window always on top of the others
- Awake — basically keeps your computer awake without having to change power settings
- Color Picker — turns on a system wide colour picker. Very useful for designers to pick out colors that they like where ever they see them on the screen
- Fancy Zones — takes the idea of the default (and pretty powerful) Window manager in Windows 11 and makes it even more customisable
- File explorer add ons — adds new functions and file type viewing abilities in File Explorer
- Image resizer — another one that I use all the time. Image resizer quickly shrinks images. I use it all the time to compress the images for my email newsletter.
- Mouse Utilities — enables a spotlight to quickly find your mouse. Very useful if you’re giving a presentation or recording an instructional video
- PowerRename — Bulk renaming of files on steroids. Useful for a photographer like me
- PowerToys Run — basically adds the Mac Spotlight to Windows
In conclusion
The extensibility of Windows means that it can be modified to have the best features of most other operating systems. This list is not comprehensive by any means but does include my most used free apps. There are alternatives to these out there, but for simplicity, I stick to these.
Do you have any others you’d like to suggest? Leave them in the comments and I’ll include them in a future update to this article.
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Hi I’m Dr Raffy Halim, an anaesthetist, photographer and podcaster. If you like articles like this, you may also like my weekly newsletter, the Sunday Surprise. For more, check out my website raffyhalim.com
