You should back up your hard drive. You’ve heard it a million times, but most people don’t do it. So we’re going to make it easy: CrashPlan is the best backup tool. It’s what you should use to back up your data, both on-site and off-site.
Last June, we picked TweetDeck as the best Twitter client for Windows, but the newly-updated version of MetroTwit has taken the crown. Its excellent interface and range of features make it a great choice for Twitter users.
Windows does not have very many options for quick file uploading, and the ones that do exist aren’t fantastic. The best of the pack is probably FluffyApp, which uploads to the previously mentioned CloudApp service via drag and drop.
You can put together custom hotkeys in a number of different places, but nothing beats the flexibility of our favourite global hotkey manager, AutoHotkey.
Windows’ built-in wallpaper switcher is OK, but not spectacular. If you’d like to beef up your rotating wallpaper, John’s Background Switcher gives you tons of options for doing so, and at no cost.
If you wish your keyboard’s keys were laid out just a tad differently, you can change it around with a keyboard remapper. Windows users have a few to choose from, but the easiest to use is certainly KeyTweak, which presents you with a full, visual keyboard layout and multiple methods for changing it.
Windows has about a billion screen capture tools (give or take), but we dig PicPick’s huge list of options, built-in photo editor, ability to upload photos to FTP and its $0 price tag.
Windows users have a lot of choices when it comes to screencasting tools, but the best of the bunch is the professional, feature-rich, editing, quality-producing Camtasia Studio.
We’re once again updating our App Directory to list PotPlayer as the best video player for Windows. KMPlayer, our former favourite, has been through a major update that makes it more of a media centre than a video player.
Overclocking is a great way to eke a bit more gaming power out of your computer, and Windows users have quite a few tools to help them do it easily. Our favourite of the bunch is the insanely easy to use, feature-filled MSI Afterburner.
