Brave strikes a surprisingly good balance between privacy and performance. In my opinion, it's what Chrome should have always been.

While it's based on Chrome's underlying framework, steps have been taken to dramatically reduce the data harvesting, cookies, ads, and telemetry without the need for additional ad-blocking plugins.

You can of course, add more plugins to secure it further, or use the in-built TOR private tab function which goes significantly beyond normal private tabs/windows... if you're willing to sacrifice browsing speed for a VPN-like IP obfuscation benefit. I use it for transferring sensitive designs and documentation files to the home office when out in the field.

Firefox's popularity peaked somewhere around 2009/2010 and has lost the market share to Chrome ever since. That's not to say it isn't good!

Firefox (and it's spin-offs) is the only remaining family of browsers that is not based on Chrome's code base, which makes it unique.

It's true, that Chrome greatly simplified the browser interface, and most browsers (even Firefox) have copied it. So it's not challenging to a Chrome user.

What separates Firefox most of all, is that it sends only a little telemetry to Mozilla by default (which can be turned off) and the ad-blocking plug-ins do a remarkable job of dealing with the rest. Add in the fact that it uses less power than Chrome (good for mobile device battery life) and is generally more secure... means it's still one of my primary browsers.

Mozilla does get paid by Google to set the Google search engine as the default option, and I personally have no problem with this, since I just switch it to my preferred search engine (Duck, Duck, Go). I change my search engine for the additional privacy benefit and superior controls on search results... without having to resort to regular expressions.

If you like Firefox, but disagree with Mozilla's (minimal) telemetry, then use Waterfox instead. It's so close to Firefox, it even uses the exact same repository of add-ons, plug-ins and themes. I've tried it for months now, and it... mostly works... except I had a great deal of trouble importing my bookmarks and history from Firefox... which is an incredibly stupid problem to have. It worked fine from every other browser.... Go figure!

TOR stands for "The Onion Ring", which describes a bunch of layers of security protocols used to encrypt and pass data through a number of VPN-like servers around the globe. TOR as a technology, has unfortunately got an unfairly bad reputation because it's what shady people use to connect to the "Dark Web" (you certainly don't want those people tracking you down). That said, unless you tell the browser to do so (and you can't do that accidentally) it will only connect to the regular Internet, and do it in a secure way. I use it all the time when doing financial transfers when booking my flights abroad or managing my stock portfolio... because I don't trust public WiFi access points.

If you want the absolute most secure browser, then this is probably it. However, if you engage every security feature... be prepared for your browsing speeds to take a considerable hit. You certainly won't be streaming 4K movies through it in that mode... unless you really like buffering, and waiting around.

The TOR Browser doesn't have to be slow, offers a significant upgrade in privacy, and has a lot of legitimate uses, the technology in this browser isn't evil, it's what some people do with it that can be.

Vivaldi is perhaps the most powerful browser I've seen to date. It can tile multiple tabs and simultaneously show them in a single window. It can launch multiple sites in "reader mode" for easy "speed reading". It even features a full email client capability and calendaring system.

It "did my head in" for the first few days (I found it hard to juggle it's capabilities like it wanted me too) but after a while, I came to like it.

If you have one of those huge ultra-wide monitors (or even three) this can certainly make that space so crazy "packed in" that you might suffer from what pilots call "helmet fire" (brain overload), but I think it'd offer a lot of benefit to the smaller screens of portable devices most of all.

For those more interested in DJ-centred activities, MiXXX is an excellent cross-platform option.

I've seen so many differing arrangements of this customizable/skinned/themed interface, this is just one of many possibilities. Set it up as you need to. Put your heavily used features in the best "real estate locations" and hide the stuff you don't care about. You decide, and it's fundamental to making this software work the way YOU need it to.

The ability to just drop a song in any number of file formats, have the software assess the BPM, help you to sync your tracks, and mix it with up to four virtual decks, and then sync all that with real DJ equipment of various brands, without all that proprietary software restriction nonsense that (cough AlphaTheta, formerly Pioneer) has been known to do... it's pretty sweet.

However, if you want to loop whole tracks, mark and jump to key track points to loop selected sections, and do all the usual effects, this thing can do that too.

Inkscape is one of the best free alternatives to Adobe's Illustrator. It works on Linux, Mac and Windows, supports the use of my (now very old) Intuos 4 Wacom tablet, but you can use whatever mouse/touch pad/trackball device you like as well.

While it's fundamentally a drawing app, there are obvious ways to use it like annotations of documents and images as well. Perhaps the most underrated bit is that it's also incredibly useful for file type conversions.

Inkscape's in-built edge-finding tools is great for converting common bitmap/raster file types into vectors, and saves you a lot of time tracing the bits you want manually. Most graphic designers would use this for seamless and infinite scaling for non-pixelated enlargements... but that's not the only use.

I've quite literally, taken a 32KB icon, (a whopping 160 x 340 pixels large, which is nothing) and blown it up to a seamless 3D carved sign over 2 metres wide. Ok I had to clean up the rough "auto detected" edges, but I did it in Inkscape in under 2 minutes.

So you don't have to be an "artist" to find this useful. Plenty of wood workers use CNC routers, laser engravers and 3D printers to add Inkscape designs to their work. Meanwhile, machinists might use plasma cutters, water jets, and CNC mills to cut parts from 2D drawings.

I've even seen trophy makers etch plaques, RC hobbyists cut wood parts even soap makers design their own stamp to indent their soap bars, (and to cut the nets used for their recycled paper packaging) using graphics created in Inkscape!

That said, I've seen beautiful art done in Inkscape too... I'm just not that good at it.

Another free alternative to commercial offerings like Adobe Illustrator, and is somewhere between Corel's Draw and Paint Shop Pro.. given it has elements of both. It could be argued that it also competes with Anime Studio, given it has some 2d animation capability in there as well. Although I mostly use it as a much better version of Microsoft Paint...

It has some really nice features like hardware acceleration support, full colour management for print/screen colour accuracy, layers, transitions, even brush smoothing assistants (for those with shaky hands) loads of plug-ins, a completely customizable interface, and a simple-yet-surprisingly powerful animation feature. The transformation tools are especially useful in lining things up and arranging things for animation transitions. It works with most drawing tablets (as you'd expect) and there's even the means to make it work with unusual input devices like eye trackers! (Try doing that with Illustrator or Paint!). If that's not enough, you can use the beginner-friendly Python programming language to make widgets to make Krita more suited. So you can download premade plugins, or create your own!

No subscriptions, no accounts, no cost, and some pretty impressive degrees of documentation and tutorials that can take you from absolute beginner as far down the rabbit hole as you want to go.

I highly recommend!

Got subscription service fatigue?

Kodi, is in some ways.. a media streaming service, in other ways a media player, and even a games console too! It all depends on how simple or complex you want it to be. It's greatest strength is that it literally runs on mobile devices, TVs, dedicated streaming devices (Apple TVs for instance), computers, even Raspberry Pi's and allows you to integrate your TV and hi-fi system (usually the biggest screen/sound system in the house) with those systems to give you the best experience possible while accessing your personal media libraries. Ultimately, the best of both worlds. That said, there's a lot you can do... and there's some requirements you should be aware of.

You need to have backed your CD/DVD/Bluray/Photo/Home Movie collection to a hard drive somewhere for easy retrieval, then run Kodi-compatible server on that system

You then need to link those files up to any device in the house using the Kodi client on your other devices (over a network) and doing so provides a tidy and easy to use interface to choose your media... and it's presented nicely like most streaming services, all within your home.

If that sounds interesting, Kodi is a great choice! It also has the ability to run games, including their emulators and supports a decent number of controllers as well.

Before we get into full-blown video editors, let's talk about Handbrake. Basically it takes a video file in one format, and turns it into a different format. Often you do this to compress it down into a smaller, more compatible or web-friendly format. Other times you're fixing some defect with the file, especially when the only way to accomplish that is to re-encode (transcode) it from scratch. You can do that as long as the basic format of the source file is intact.

Most people use Handbrake as a way to copy their legitimately bought optical media onto their media servers. It might seem weird to duplicate their libraries, but you can then use systems like Kodi or Plex (listed on this page) to provide convenient access on all local devices. This is especially true now that high-end Bluray players are all but no-longer made, and the prices keep soaring. What do you do when the device eventually fails?

Handbrake works on Linux, Mac, and Windows, and freely downloadable without any limitations.

If you're looking for an easy, beginner friendly video editor, and don't need a million "bells and whistles" to confuse you, the OpenShot is a great choice.

Drag and drop footage into an unlimited number of tracks, trim bits you don't need out, add titles, animated text, transitions, tweak the audio, you can visualise the audio, and even make that you video if you wish. Play with slow motion, and other time effects.

Ok, so you're not going to be doing Imax footage on this thing, but for simple projects, it's more than enough to get it done, and get it done quickly, even for beginners.

Shotcut is a fully-featured video editor that's beginner-friendly. I like that it's 4K, even 8K compatible, and has a drag-and-drop interface. Shotcut has a ton of supported video file types and you can even create thumbnails and descriptions for each video track for easy identification. That's really nice. You can merge several videos of different types together and batch convert them if needed.

There's a very capable selection of video filters to adjust colours, brightness, etc. Transitions to switch between tracks, and most types of subtitle file formats are also supported.

The audio editing features are also powerful (especially with all the filters, noise gates, band pass and equalizer features. It has a variety of "scopes" to visualise the audio tracks, and if that's not enough, Shotcut even has ambisonic capabilities. It's more than enough for most people, and even many professionals.

Documentation and videos are available on the site (and YouTube of course) and they're pretty good. Shotcut works on Linux, Mac and Windows, and absolutely free.

Originally for Linux, this now works on BSD, Linux, Mac, and Windows.

I like the unlimited tracks for multiple camera angles, the animated vector graphics feature allows charts to be annotated and animated in real time, or used to overlay progress on a map. We're starting to see more colour correction over some of the more basic alternatives listed here, scopes and filters for both audio and video, plus dozens of effects, transitions, quick-access (built into the app) to find online user-created effects and stock materials. But my favourite feature of all (as someone who's made videos with apps like this, and lost them in a blackout, is the automatic backup every few minutes. Very nice.

Open Broadcast Software Studio (or OBS Studio) is perfect for capturing desktop feeds, as well as web cams, microphones, and inputs attached to capture cards. It's got a nice video editing interface that's fairly intuitive, and can make either laid-back kids videos... or professional-grade online videos without too much trouble. Because it's so versatile, I really appreciate the customizable UI, simply arrange it as you like, because when you're "live", you need to be as smooth and trouble-free as possible... :~). Anything to help with that is the difference between looking competent.. and not, and say what you will, that impacts how credible you're perceived to be.

This isn't a "stand alone video editor".. it's more a streaming package with inherent editing capability. Whether you're "live streaming" gameplay, hosting a webinar, or recording and producing videos to upload to YouTube, OBS has you covered.

As you'd expect, it also has some nifty audio editing capabilities, and has features designed for suppressing noise picked up by microphones, as well as the usual leveling and gain adjustments.

What I like most is the ability to create several feeds (say an intro video, several camera/microphone feeds, and your desktop, have them all pre-configured, and switch between them as needed with nice little transitions. All in all, OBS Studio is a pretty nice package and works well.

As with most of this software, it's cross-platform and works on Linux, Mac, and Windows, and completely free to download.

Are you an avid video content creator? Dreaming of working in the TV/movie industry? If you think free software can't compete with Adobe Premier, you're in for a very rude awakening. DaVinci Resolve is actually Hollywood industrial video/audio production software... and the free version is limited to 4K footage at 60 fps... and while it doesn't have the AI features, some of the more advanced filters, and plug-ins... Wow!

Let me reiterate that, 4K at 60fps, and all the "basic Hollywood industry features, including a lot of very nice effects, colour correction, and a fully functional audio editor/DAW inside to boot". All this is included without limitation. No watermarks, no file size or clip length limits, and it works on Windows, Mac, and select versions of Linux. Free

For most individual projects, this is like using a strategic bomber to get rid of a pesky possum. It can definitely get the job done... probably with Dolby Atmos surround sound no less... and is probably "overkill"... but don't let that scare you off. It's actually not difficult to use the basics once you've watched a few training videos. If you find the software useful, there's a ton of fancy control decks/panels/switches to make using it even easier... (the hardware is not cheap though, and you don't actually need it.

DaVinci Resolve a great way to see some real industry software, if you prefer to get certified, and if you want to buy the full professional system, (for your unnecessarily large 32K footage shot at 120fps) you can do so for less than $500 Australian dollars, (that's less than 15 months of an Adobe Premier subscription), and use it without any time limits or fear of changing "terms and conditions".

Seriously, use the free edition unless you need more than 4K footage. What have you got to lose?

PSSST Did you know that their training text books are also downloadable for free on their training page?... or you could buy a hard copy from Amazon.

For all those Windows users, Zorin OS will feel very familiar. Menus are similar in appearance and location, the icons are familiar, and for everything else, it's an extremely refined interface that is intuitive to even the technophobes in my old workplace. This is unsurprising, since it is aimed to reduce the learning curve for Windows users to be as absolutely gentle as possible.

So if your Windows 10 support is running out and you don't want to pay for new hardware or hack Windows 11's TPM checker... (who knows how long that'll continue to work for) I strongly urge you to try Zorin OS.

Macs work for a lot of people, but when older (particularly Intel based) hardware is no longer supported by Apple's latest OS versions, this can breathe new life into your Mac.

Similarly, if you prefer Mac OS, and are stuck with PC hardware, this is a pretty good compromise too.

Naturally, this is a great way for Mac users to dip their toes into Linux, and do so with the least amount of difficulty.

Linux Mint is one of the most popular flavours of Linux for a reason. It takes the rock-solid functionality of Debian (a flavour of Linux) and mixes it with the best of Ubuntu (some more modern features).

Right out of the box, you can stream movies/music/podcasts/internet radio, browse the web, edit photos/movies/audio files with ease, draw images, open office documents, and install Steam games.... No learning how to install apps, no tweaking settings to get you up and running, no cloud accounts or subscriptions to worry about, just install and go. I've used it for nearly two decades and I recommend it for anyone just starting out.

Ubuntu (specifically Ubuntu Desktop) is one of the most popular and general-purpose variants of Linux, and has been for a very long time.

I've used it at work for years because it was one of the most "beginner friendly" distributions of Linux. It's relatively easy to use, yet extremely powerful. It takes a little longer to learn because it's not trying to look like Mac or Windows... if you get to know Ubuntu, you're a long way to using dozens if not hundreds of variants of Linux.

Like every flavour of Linux, Ubuntu comes with a huge catalogue of freely available software in its repositories... although less is installed by default compared to Linux Mint. Honestly, it'd be very difficult to "out grow" Ubuntu, since it works across most industries, and can do an awful lot. That said, once you've mastered the basics, just know that everyone uses Linux a little bit differently because it's so customizable, so keep that in mind.