Plenty of PDF reader apps are available on the Microsoft Store, but if you want the highest document fidelity and support for all the format's features, you need Adobe's free Acrobat Reader. It lets you add sticky notes to documents, enter text in forms, and even mark up files with drawings. The app supports e-signing and sharing via an email link, too. A $4.99-per-month add-on unlocks an AI tool that can summarize long PDFs and answer questions about them. For full-power PDF creation and editing, you need to pay for Adobe Acrobat Pro, which costs $19.99 per month, billed annually.

Adobe’s lightweight web application is trying to democratize good design by making it accessible to everyone. It lets you create impactful Facebook posts, Instagram stories, logos, and posters using templates and stock content. Adobe Express is also helpful for creating marketing collateral, school projects, and work presentations. Express has an impressive tool set with loads of design elements, many of which you can use for free. Adobe Firefly integration means you can generate AI images and video based on a prompt. Finally, you can use Express to share your work with collaborators or customers. A Premium subscription ($9.99 per month) adds many more templates and stock assets.

Amazon's music streaming service is affordable and impressive. If you spring for Amazon Music Unlimited, you get much better sound quality than with Spotify and at least as extensive a library. If you have the right gear, you can even listen to spatial audio with the app and use the Exclusive mode on Windows. The app lets you download your sounds for offline listening. With an Amazon Prime subscription, you get just 2 million tracks at 320kbps. For $11.99 per month (or $10.99 per month if you are a Prime member), you can enjoy 75 million tunes, Dolby Atmos support, and Hi-Res audio. A free account (which doesn't require a credit card) gets you ad-supported stations and playlists but no on-demand listening.

Social networking app Discord isn't just for gamers anymore, though that's still the lion's share of its audience. With Discord, you can join study groups, watch live-streaming videos, and even converse with other users in Ancient Greek or Latin. Discord communities exist for developers, entertainment, musicians, and all the big (and small) video games. If you plan to upload large files, you need to join Discord Nitro, which starts at $2.99 per month for 50MB and goes up to $9.99 per month for 500MB.

FeedLab is a terrific RSS reader for Windows. It shows a list of categories you can subscribe to or connect your existing Feedly account. You create topic groups for your feeds to keep them organized. A three-panel interface shows your subscriptions on the left, the post titles in the middle, and their content on the right. You can easily click through to the source links to read the full articles. Windows notifications are an option, and native sharing options make sending that viral post to social a snap. Unobtrusive banner ads support the free version. If you want to use FeedLab offline and get rid of the ads, you can make a small donation

That’s right, you can install the venerable Firefox web browser from your PC’s app store. Sure, Windows 11 comes with a terrific browser, Microsoft Edge, but we still love this open-source, independent alternative. In particular, we appreciate its optional Container tabs, which save you from clearing cookies or using a second browser to log in to (or out of) more than one account on the same site. Firefox remains a fast, customizable, and privacy-focused browser, with extensions, good support for web standards, and password syncing.

If you're on Instagram, you can install the app right on your PC. Carry on direct message conversations, check who's following whom, create and post memes, see the selfies, and watch the stories—it's all there in this PWA app. The app even has a custom AI creator you can customize based on your interests. It lacks access to your PC's camera, so you can't make instant videos and photos, but you can still upload media from local storage.

Don’t lose those flashes of inspiration, meeting notes, new contacts, sketches, or travel ideas. Save and organize them in OneNote. This note-taking app works on every platform, syncing all notes across all your devices. Your notes can include audio files, images, online videos, and even hand-written math equations. Students can use OneNote for class materials and planning, and you can password-protect sections to keep them from prying eyes. Search across all your notes is very quick, too.

MusicBee is a highly capable music player and collection organizer. It can handle most audio formats, including FLAC and DSD, and lets you set output to WASAPI and ASIO for high-end audio setups. It features an equalizer, gapless playback, and an auto DJ feature. It can also auto-tag your music and sync it among your devices. The interface is extremely customizable, though somewhat dated by default.

Windows 11 has a button in the taskbar that gives you access to the weather report, but if you want more detail, the MyRadar app is a spiffy option. You can choose layers, including clouds, fronts, temperatures, and winds, as well as view historical weather. Search a location to see its current weather conditions and hourly and daily forecasts with attractive, colorful graphs. The app has won contracts from the Navy and trucking fleets, giving credence to its reliability. The free version gives you plenty, but for advanced features and an ad-free experience, you need to pay $3.99 per month.

Nebo is a cloud-synced and cross-platform note-taking and document creation app. It supports a boundless canvas for notes and documents that you can write with your keyboard or stylus. You can add drawings, equations, and photos to your documents or notes. You can also upload PDFs and annotate them in Nebo. The app costs $9.99 and is also available for iPads and Chromebooks.

Binge your favorite series from the popular streaming service in glorious 4K on your Windows PC or tablet. With the Windows Netflix app, you can now play video games and download shows for offline viewing. Switch account profiles for different viewers and add or remove shows to your list. Managing your account still requires opening the web browser, though. While the app is free to install, Netflix subscriptions start at $7.99 per month with ads or from $17.99 per month without ads.

Some people use the web version of this group chat app for business, but who wants another browser tab? The Slack app facilitates your interaction with teammates, including sharing images and meeting for video or voice group calls. It ties in nicely with Windows 11’s notifications and Focus Sessions feature, in case you want to avoid distracting notifications. Small teams can use Slack for free with some restrictions. Full service starts at $8.75 per person per month.

With a pleasing range of curated genres to choose from—indie pop, electro-chill, folk, reggae—the free SomaFM group of internet radio stations is a great music streaming option. The app lets you mark stations as favorites for easy access and respond to your DJ's current selection with an approving heart or a disapproving ?! to give feedback. It's not for fans of top 40 pop, but you're sure to discover hidden musical gems. The interface is clear and simple. You never hear commercial ads, but the DJs occasionally exhort you to support the stations. The app even has a sleep timer.

If you've decided to quit Twitter (or X), take a look at Threads. In addition to having a more pleasing interface, it is (so far) a more civil environment. Since it comes from the creators of Instagram, it already has a vastly larger audience than many of the other would-be Twitter killers like Bluesky and Mastodon.

Use TikTok at your peril, given all the controversy around the social video app owned by a Chinese parent company. This version of the app lets you not only consume all that great dance and humor content but also upload videos from your PC. It just doesn't support direct uploads from your webcam. You can send direct messages and buy coins to support your favorite creators in the app as well. It’s free but shows ads. One downside of using TikTok on your PC is that most content uses a mobile-friendly, vertical aspect ratio. Keep in mind that you might need to download a new TikTok app if its sale ever happens.

In this world awash with subscription-based video streaming content, what could be better than a completely free service loaded with movies, shows and even live content? Tubi is by far one of the best free video streaming services. (Yes, it has ads.) A massive menu offers enough genres to suit any couch potato, and Tubi Kids serves age-appropriate content; see our list of the best streaming apps for kids for more recommendations. Tubi even has some original content. One downside is that you can't download movies or shows to watch offline as some paid apps let you do.

Yes, Windows 11 comes with a slick new media player, but VLC (also called VLC media player) has diehard fans for a reason. It can play and rip just about any audio or video format in existence. There are, in fact, two flavors of VLC on the Microsoft Store for apps: the standard edition and the UWP version. The first includes all the app's multifarious and intricately detailed features, while the UWP version is simpler and a lot more touch-friendly. Both are completely free and open source, though the download site has a handy donation bar along the top. There's also a version available for Windows on Arm devices.

If you regularly communicate with anyone outside the US, chances are you're one of the more than 3 billion WhatsApp users. The Microsoft Store version of the app supports end-to-end encrypted text chats and calls. Just note that communication with business accounts isn't completely private; the company might forward chat messages to suppliers and so on. Otherwise, WhatsApp lets you create disappearing messages, update your profile, or send photos, emoji, and voice messages. Video calls are also possible. Setting up your account happens via a QR code, and you can now use the same WhatsApp account across multiple devices simultaneously. And, of course, Meta has added some AI features in the app, including a chatbot. The app is free and has no ads.

Few are unfamiliar with the video meeting app Zoom. After catapulting into the vernacular and addressing the nefarious Zoom-bombing that occurred during the pandemic, the app has primarily become a business tool, now called Zoom Workplace. As with Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, Zoom supports custom backgrounds and focus options to make you look your best during video meetings. Despite its corporate focus, anyone can use the free version of Zoom for 40-minute meetings with up to 100 participants.