If you’re not familiar with the concept, “open-source” refers to app code that the public is free not just to look at, but to modify and republish as something else. You’re obligated to return the favor, even if you’re just incorporating material into a commercial product with your own proprietary code. There’s a surprising amount of open-source components in Windows 11 and macOS Tahoe, although some of the best features are, naturally, under lock and key.
Why do open-source apps matter if you’re not a developer? On a basic level, they’re usually free — a small mercy in an industry bent on turning everything into a subscription. For some people, though, it’s a question of principle. They think the world benefits when tools are available to everyone, and can evolve in a way that meets real-world demands, not just what’s profitable. Below are a few of the open-source apps on my own PC.
VLC
The reigning king of media players
You’d think an app like VLC would be unimportant in 2026. Many people consume music, movies, radio, and podcasts through streaming services, whether free or paid. You can stream feeds through VLC if you have to, but you need a direct link, which pretty much rules out using VLC has an alternative way to reach Netflix or Spotify. And if you want to consume local media, Windows has other free tools available.
It’s a tool I like to keep in my back pocket, and in a way, a PC feels naked to me without VLC installed.
VLC’s real power is in its compatibility and flexibility. Beyond some copy-protected formats, there’s virtually nothing it can’t handle, from modern MKV, MP3, and FLAC files through to RealVideo and even digital camcorder files. It might be the only app you can use to watch those old videos from 2006. Speaking of which, it can handle Blu-ray and DVD videos as well, although you have to jump through a hoop or two to get encrypted Blu-ray discs to play. There’s also support for things like multiple subtitle formats, casting to other devices, CarPlay and Android Auto, and 360-degree video on VR headsets.
Do I use VLC on a daily basis? No. But it’s a tool I like to keep in my back pocket, and in a way, a PC feels naked to me without VLC installed. It fills in the gaps of other players, and it’s a must-have if you’re the sort of person who prefers to own their media rather than pay every month for something that might be taken away on a whim.
GIMP
The Photoshop alternative
I actually have problems with GIMP. Unlike VLC, I use it on a near-daily basis for my work at Pocket-lint, and its interface is somehow less intuitive than Adobe Photoshop, the industry-standard behemoth of professional photo and graphics editing. Its filters and other image enhancements aren’t where I’d expect them, and I desperately wish it was easier to align layers with each other. Maybe I haven’t spent enough time with it yet.
If you’re venturing into pro work for the first time, I’d actually suggest starting with GIMP if you can.
That said, it gets the job done, and most importantly, it’s free. You can’t get Photoshop without paying at least $20 per month, which adds up to a whopping $240 per year. That does get you perks, including frequent updates as well as Adobe Lightroom for batch edits, but that cost is hard to swallow when all you want to do is resize and touch up a few photos occasionally. It’s no wonder Adobe is constantly at war with pirates — unless image editing is your bread and butter, I think most users would prefer to buy a standalone version every few years, even if it meant fewer updates in between. I don’t need a slew of AI features I’ll rarely if ever touch.
If you’re venturing into pro work for the first time, I’d actually suggest starting with GIMP if you can. It’s not as advanced, and you’ll have to relearn some functions if you migrate to Photoshop. It’s close enough, though, that some skills will transfer over, and there’s no sense adding to your debt right away just because you’re “supposed” to be using a particular app.
7-Zip
Making the most of storage and bandwidth
Look, file compression is even less sexy a topic than photo editors, especially now that storage and bandwidth are relatively plentiful. Compression was critical when hard drives only had a few gigabytes to work with, and the majority of people were still on dial-up modems — but now, a 256GB drive is considered small, and a 200Mbps internet plan slow. I would’ve killed for 200Mbps back when I was playing games like Quake II.
It’s extremely convenient, since it blends into Windows’ right-click menus, and minimizes the steps needed to extract files to your folder of choice.
It does have its archival and space-saving purposes though, and there’s really no incentive to pay for something like WinZip anymore. 7-Zip is free, and handles such a diverse range of formats beyond ZIP that the only way I can imagine needing something more is if I wanted military-grade security. It’s also extremely convenient, since it blends into Windows’ right-click menus, and minimizes the steps needed to extract files to your folder of choice.
There’s not too much more to say about it, other than the fact that it’s available in 87 languages — including Esperanto, inexplicably — and works with surprisingly ancient versions of Windows if you need it, stretching all the way back to Windows 2000. It’s such an integral part of my Windows setup that it’s easy to forget it’s not built into the operating system.
Google Chrome
Not really open, but reaping the benefits
Okay, critics will rightfully complain that Chrome itself isn’t open-source — it’s very much proprietary. But it’s deeply intertwined with Chromium, a Google-lead project that is open-source, which means that there’s still a back-and-forth development process at work. Indeed a lot of other browsers are based on Chromium, most notably Arc, Brave, Opera, DuckDuckGo, and Microsoft Edge. Microsoft gave up on Internet Explorer a long time ago.
I would like to migrate to a truly open-source browser someday, but I have to admit that there’s no immediate rush.
I would probably be using Brave right now if it weren’t for a few things: tab, password, and payment sync, and Chrome’s privileged place on Android devices. Being a tech journalist, I sometimes hop back and forth between platforms, and it’s nice to know that when I’m on one of the many Android devices out there, I’m ready to go without downloading another browser. As for those sync options, other browsers do support similar features — but Google has an edge in controlling a lot of the services and platforms I use, such as YouTube, Google Pay, and once again, Android.
There are ad and privacy concerns with Chrome, but those can be reduced or eliminated by downloading extensions like Privacy Badger. I would like to migrate to a truly open-source browser someday, but I have to admit that there’s no immediate rush.
