The Lifehacker staff sifts through a ton of apps on a regular basis, but a few have stuck with us over the years. Some apps are simply nice to have, while others have become essential in our daily lives. From dealing with irate dragons to counting our mindfulness minutes, each app on this list has a special place in our hearts (and our homescreens). Best of all, they're completely free to download!

So you've made the switch to Linux. Or you're thinking of making the switch. But you have questions that might be stopping you from fully diving in. One of the biggest concerns most new users have is, "What software is available and how do I install it?"

Of all the desktops available for the Linux operating system, GNOME has managed to become on of the most efficient, stable and reliable -- while still remaining incredibly user-friendly. In fact, most users -- regardless of experience -- can get up to speed with GNOME with next to no effort.

There are currently over two million apps available for Apple iPhone. Android has even more. When you throw in Windows, Mac, Linux and myriad browser extensions, the number of apps to choose from is truly overwhelming.

To help simplify things, Lifehacker's experts have hand-picked around 200 apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, Chrome and iOS that every technology user should own. Best of all, most of them are completely free!

The Nintendo Switch is a great device for gaming, but it can't do much else. Thankfully, that may not be the case for much longer, if you're willing to hack your $469 tablet.

Where does all the time go? When it comes to the time you spend on your phone, your computer, and the web, this doesn't have to be a vague and rhetorical question - plenty of tools out there will track and monitor your time automatically, telling you exactly which apps and sites are sucking up most of your precious minutes of existence.

Linux progenitor Linus Torvalds has already shared his feelings regarding the bungles of Spectre and Meltdown. They weren't happy ones. Now that patches are available, Torvalds is even less impressed, describing Intel's effort as "complete and utter garbage".

There are a pair of security flaws present in nearly every device you've got that could allow hackers to steal information like passwords and other personal information. The exploits, Spectre and Meltdown, take advantage of actual flaws in the design of your device's microprocessor.

The Linux operating system has evolved from a niche audience to widespread popularity since its creation in the mid 1990s, and with good reason. Once upon a time, that installation process was a challenge, even for those who had plenty of experience with such tasks. The modern day Linux, however, has come a very long way. To that end, the installation of most Linux distributions is about as easy as installing an application. If you can install Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop, you can install Linux.

What operating system do you use? For some, that question may as well be posed in Latin or Sanskrit. For others, it's an invitation to have a heated debate about the benefits of GUI vs. command line, modern day UI vs. old school metaphor, the pros/cons of Windows 10, LAMP vs. IIS... the list goes on and on. For most, however, the answer will be a variation on Windows or Mac.

Nintendo's nostalgia-fuelled Super NES Classic has been out for less than two weeks, but it's already been hacked to add more games and custom backgrounds.

Ubuntu is the first of the Linux distros that were announced as coming to the Windows Store during the most recent Build conference. It's available through the Windows Store for download and runs in it's own sandbox.

Reader Saifali has submitted desktops in the past to our Desktop Showcase, but this one's a fresh look, and we like it. If you dig it too -- or just the Antarctic landscape in it -- here's how you can bring the same look to your computer.

The cycle in which ideas turn into software is getting shorter and shorter. By and large, this is a good thing as new functions are delivered to users faster than ever before. But one of the consequences is software bugs are introduced and sometimes missed. I suspect part of the reason is testing cycles are being squeezed. This is part of the root cause, I think, as to why a two year old bug was introduced into Linux.

What do you do when you have three beautiful curved ultrawide displays? Mount them side-by-side for a glorious, pixel-packed super-wide experience, like elliotvs did with his workspace. Here's a closer look.

Gradually, Microsoft is fusing Linux into Windows 10... well, Bash at least. The company crawled a little closer to this goal this week with the latest Insider build (16215), which removed the need for Developer Mode to use the feature.

While not quite as good as O'Reilly's free programming eBook deal from last week, Humble's Linux and Open Source eBook bundle is more than respectable. You get three books for $US1 and depending on high you want to go, up to 12 in total, covering everything from Git to Nginx.

The File Transfer Protocol will always be around, but it hasn't aged well, especially when compared to its more popular relative, HTTP. The folks at Debian have decided that it's time to cut the FTP cord and will be retiring its public-facing FTP services come November this year.

Adobe's Creative Suite is one of the best software packs out there for professionals, but the suite is prohibitively expensive for most people - and it's about to get even pricier in Australia. If you can't drop the cash, you can still get a similar experience with free or cheap software. Here's how to build your own Creative Suite.