Underrated free apps I always install on all my PCs

The article recommends eight “underrated” free apps the author says they install on every PC setup, emphasizing tools that work across both Windows and Linux. The piece is written by Dibakar Ghosh, a tech journalist at How-To Geek focused on Linux, Windows, and productivity. It opens by framing a common frustration—reinstalling the same set of apps when setting up new machines—and proposes alternatives that are easier to overlook. As examples, it highlights Portmaster, described as a FOSS firewall for monitoring and controlling app internet connections, and Mailspring, a free email client positioned as replacing default options like Outlook or Thunderbird.