Top Windows software to avoid

Software to avoid	Use this instead	Why?
Adblock Plus	Ublock origins	Adblock Plus sells ads(!)
Adobe Acrobat (PDF printing)	Microsoft Print to PDF	Use the Windows 10 built-in printer
Adobe Acrobat (PDF reading and modifying)	Foxit Reader	Free and safer from viruses, but has ads
Anti-virus software	Windows Security	Use the Windows 10 built-in AV
CCleaner	BleachBit	CCleaner has been accused of spying
Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge	Firefox	Google and Microsoft will sell your data
Firewall software	Windows Firewall	Use the Windows 10 built-in firewall
Office	LibreOffice	Save money
Outlook	Thunderbird	Save money
WinZip, WinRAR	7zip	Faster, more secure, no nagging, no ads
Windows Media Player	VLC Player	VLC works much better, more formats
Zoom, Skype	Jitsi	Zoom is not secure, Jitsi doesn't sell your data

Other, recommended windows tools:

• Desktop Restore - prevent your desktop icons getting messed up when your resolution changes
• Etcher - burn disk images to SD cards, great for working with Raspberry Pi images
• FreeFileSync - great incremental backup tool
• Ridnacs - discover what is taking the most space on your hard drive
• SDFormatter - the official SD card formatting software
• SyncTrayzor - sync files between computers without giving them to Google or Dropbox
• Tixati - fast & free torrent client
• VeraCrypt - file and disk encryption tool
• WinCDEmu - mount disk images such as .iso files
• WinMerge - compare text files or folder contents
• WinSCP - FTP / SFTP client