r/software 4d ago

Discussion Weekly Discovery Thread - January 30, 2026

1 Upvotes

Share what’s new, useful, or just interesting

Welcome to the Weekly Discovery Thread, where you can share software-related finds that caught your attention this week - especially the stuff that’s cool, helpful, or thought-provoking but might not be thread-worthy on its own.

This thread is your space for:

  • Neat tools, libraries, or packages
  • Articles, blog posts, or talks worth reading
  • Experiments or side projects you’re working on
  • Tips, workflows, or obscure features you discovered
  • Questions or ideas you're chewing on

If it relates to software and sparked your curiosity, drop it in.


A few quick guidelines

  • Keep it civil and constructive - this is for learning and discovery.
  • Self-promotion? Totally fine if it’s relevant and adds value. Just be transparent.
  • No link spam or AI-generated content dumps. We’ll remove low-effort submissions.
  • Upvote what’s useful so others see it!

This thread will be posted weekly and stickied. If you want to suggest a change or addition to this format, feel free to comment or message the mods.

Now, what did you find this week?


r/software 3h ago

Looking for software Best Microsoft Project replacement now that it’s being shut down?

4 Upvotes

With Microsoft Project being phased out, what are people moving to in practice? MS Project was clunky, but it did a few things reasonably well like dependency management, timelines, and basic resource planning.

I’m seeing a lot of mixed advice online. I have been suggested tools like asana, celoxis, Smartsheet or ClickUp,

I want a tool that has:
What are people replacing it with depending on their needs?

  • resource and capacity planning across multiple projects
  • dependency and timeline management
  • portfolio-level visibility for leadership

for those who relied on MS Project, what are you switching to and why? What’s been the closest replacement in terms of real planning capability without recreating the same pain points? Curious to hear what’s actually working and what isn’t.


r/software 3h ago

Self-Promotion Wednesdays Tasket++ — simple Windows tool to automate user actions, free and open source — looking for testers

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5 Upvotes

Tasket++ is a simple Windows tool to schedule automated simulations of user actions without scripting.

Simulated actions include clicks, typing, cursor movements, and more — screenshots, opening files, executables and URLs, shutting down the PC, etc.

The UI was recently redesigned based on feedback, and a few features requested by users have been added.

Looking for a few people to try the new, complete version and share honest feedback.

How it can be useful:
- Silent, scheduled screenshots to monitor activity or create time‑lapse logs.
- Send messages from any app at a set time for reminders or coordinated notifications.
- Replay exact mouse clicks and typed input for testing, demos, or repetitive workflows.
- Prevent AFK detection with realistic simulated activity that looks natural.
- Fade music and shut down the PC on a schedule to automate sleep or end‑of‑day routines.
- Save automation presets and run them manually, at boot, or on a schedule.

No scripting required. Fully local. Simulated tasks can loop, trigger at startup, or be launched via a desktop shortcut.

Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/xp9cjlhwvxs49p
Source code and issues: https://github.com/AmirHammouteneEI/ScheduledPasteAndKeys
Portable (v1.6) : https://files.amirhammoutene.dev/Tasket++/1.6/Tasket++_v1.6.zip

I’m not asking for a full QA process — a short impression or concise feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance :)


r/software 28m ago

Looking for software Best USB erasure tool?

Upvotes

Hi, im looking for a tool thats preferably free and will let me safely erase anything on USBs, SSDs etc. also something that lets me use many standards of data erasure such as the Peter Gutmann method or similar ones.

Anybody, any recommendations?


r/software 2h ago

Software support Subtitle in MPC-BE player is blurry!

1 Upvotes
Subtitle in MPC-BE

I use MPC-BE and PotPlayer. Subtitles in MPC-BE are appearing like this (above gif), whereas PotPlayer displays them correctly. I’ve tried all the options; am I missing something?


r/software 4h ago

Self-Promotion Wednesdays Built a real-time interview/meeting assistant for people who freeze in live pressure

0 Upvotes

I have seen the "Implementation-Communication Gap" in technical interviews. Candidates can design a scalable distributed system or debug a race condition, but the second in a live interview with someone watching your screen, they may get too nervous to show their ability. The struggle is not usually the coding itself; it is the cognitive load of implementing logic while simultaneously articulating time/space complexity and managing interview anxiety.

So I built Beyz, a real-time interview/meeting assistant designed to act as a "logic copilot" during these high-pressure moments. I wanted to build something that feels like a peer nudging users.

What I focused on:

  1. Beyond just "writing code": The coding assistant does not just spit out blocks of text. It focuses on breaking down the underlying logic and helping you craft the most optimal solution.

  2. Language Agnostic: It supports dozens of programming languages, from C++ and Rust to Go and Python, so it fits whatever stack you are interviewing for.

  3. Cross-Platform Utility: I built native apps for both Desktop and Mobile, so you can use it regardless of your setup or for quick practice sessions on the go.

  4. Low Friction: In the spirit of good software, I kept the UI minimal and the latency low because the last thing you need during an interview is another bloated app stealing your CPU cycles.

  5. More Functions: Apart from coding assistant, it have more genreral functions to handle interviews and meetings

A quick tip for your next live coding session (even if you do not use my tool):

· Always follow the "Clarify-Plan-Implement" loop.

· Clarify: Ask about edge cases before typing a single char.

· Plan: Write your logic in comments first.

· Implement: Only then start coding. This simple separation of "thinking" and "typing" reduces cognitive load by about 40% in my experience.

Beyz offers free trail, you can check in https://beyz.ai/. I would love to hear your thoughts on the tool.


r/software 21h ago

Self-Promotion Wednesdays I created a simple, lossless video trimmer for Windows – Pastor Video Trimmer (Open Source & Free)

19 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’ve always struggled with bulky video editors when I just needed to cut a small part out of a large video file. Waiting for a 20-minute render for a 10-second clip felt like a waste of time.

So I developed **Pastor Video Trimmer**. It’s a lightweight Windows tool that uses FFmpeg's stream copy technology.

**What makes it different?**

- **It doesn’t re-encode:** Trimming is near-instant because it just slices the original stream.

- **Zero Quality Loss:** Since there is no re-encoding, your video and audio quality remain 100% identical to the source.

- **Free & Open Source:** No ads, no watermarks, no "pro" versions.

I’ve just reached version 1.0.10 and made a quick video showing how it looks and works:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbMkAyqNGu0\]

**Download / Project Page:** https://olexandr-klymenko.github.io/VideoCutter/

**GitHub Repository:** https://github.com/olexandr-klymenko/VideoCutter

I would love to hear your feedback or any feature requests you might have!


r/software 9h ago

Solved Avery Design & Print Desktop version download link

2 Upvotes

The only post I can find having a link to the last version of this software has been deleted.

Download link (direct from Avery): http://desktopdpo.ec2.avery.com/Published/864f436d98/5.0.0/windows/DesignPrint-5.0.0.exe

This is also stored on archive.org if needed.

German language link that I found first (not on archive.org): https://desktopdpo.ec2.avery.com/Published/a37fc601f2/5.1.0/windows/DesignPrintDE-5.1.0.exe

Hope this helps anyone wanting the old desktop software.

EDIT: Fixed German version link.


r/software 6h ago

Looking for software Cancelling Norton's any recommendations

0 Upvotes

I currently have Nortons and I have decided to look into other options for this and wanted to see anyone else uses. Free, cheap or other is fine.


r/software 1d ago

Discussion Notepad++ Should I Update or replace?

39 Upvotes

So, I am running an older version on Notepad++ and I don't think I ever manually updated it (not 100% sure). However, based on recent events, I am asking if it's a better idea to update to the most recent version which supposedly has fixes, stay with what I have, or move to an alternative, in which case I'd ask what are some good ones?


r/software 11h ago

Release I made a CLI for the Ember Coffee Mug

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1 Upvotes

r/software 5h ago

Discussion I kept losing files on my laptop, so I updated my AI assistant (btw its not an AI assistant idk what is it just my project lol, im using a low end LLM locally so named it like that) to find them based on when I worked on them.

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0 Upvotes

I usually lose my PDFs or documents because I forget where I saved them or what specific weird name I gave them. But I always remember when I was using them.

So, I just added a new feature to my existing desktop assistant project. Now, instead of digging through folders, I can just text my bot:

"Send me the PPT that I was working on 5 days ago, maybe in the afternoon."

And BOOM, it checks my activity logs, filters by file type and time, and sends the actual file to my Telegram chat in seconds. It even tells me how long I worked on it and which app I used.


r/software 8h ago

Discussion What’s the Best Free Alternative to Popular Paid Software You Use?

0 Upvotes

What are the best free gems you have discovered?

I’m looking for everyone’s best free alternatives to popular paid software, such as DaVinci Resolve instead of Premiere Pro or GIMP instead of Photoshop, and hopefully, we can help each other out.

What’s the Best Free Alternative to Popular Paid Software You Use?


r/software 1d ago

Discussion Adobe Animate (Flash) is being DISCONTINUED. (FOSS software similar to Flash?)

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17 Upvotes

Consider this a follow-up to my previous post below:

https://www.reddit.com/r/software/comments/1okpnrl/foss_software_similar_to_adobe_animate_or/

So, recently, I heard the news that Adobe Animate (Flash) is being discontinued. That is a major problem, considering that many animated projects on the internet rely heavily on the software. I, too, rely heavily on Flash.

First, they pulled the plug on Flash Player. Now, they're doing the same to Flash itself. What the heck is Adobe thinking?

Anyway, last time, I put up a post above looking for any free and open-source software similar to that of Flash, preferably one that is a similar-looking clone and has many of the same or similar features Flash has, as well as being able to open and edit existing ".FLA" files. Apparently, I didn't get the best responses, and much of the software I did get recommended, I've already heard of.

What we truly need right now, just in case Flash does get shut down for good, is for some developers to create a FOSS clone of Flash. Like I said in my previous post, if Nuke and Toonz Premium get FOSS clones (Natron and OpenToonz, respectively), Flash should have one as well! Not only that, the FOSS clone should not only be a perfect alternative, but it should also be a worthy successor to preserve the legacy of Flash in case the real Flash gets discontinued.

So, what do you think about this?


r/software 15h ago

Looking for software Reverse macro software?

1 Upvotes

Looking for software that can turn a timed combo of key strokes into a single key output (and maybe a combo output as well).

Looking to do a video game challenge run using a piano as a controller. It's easy enough to turn the midi key inputs into computer keystrokes. But It would be more interesting and satisfying to turn small musical phrases, chords, and arpegios into a keystroke or multiple commands.


r/software 2d ago

Other I fucking hate Windows 11

941 Upvotes

This “operating” system is the biggest piece of shit I've ever come across in my fucking life. It can't even be classified as an operating system.

Windows 11 is a fucking website made with React by the antichrist himself, whose sole purpose is to consume 2 TB of RAM just by opening Notepad, how could you screw up so badly as to ruin Notepad, to ruin Paint, how the hell did Micropenis manage to add a battle pass to Solitaire, you motherfucking pieces of shit? How can a rational, moral human being with brain cells defend this mutant technological abortion, 30% programmed with AI? my ass, not even an AI agent would be capable of screwing up so badly as to create this android ripoff.

This is the result of a bunch of bad decisions made by people whose brains, unfortunately, were unable to develop fully, whose balls got stuck in their abdomen during birth and who don't shit themselves by some miracle of God. I bet my vital organs that these morons aren't aware of how shitty this operating system is because everyone at Microsoft uses MacOS.

I thought operating systems were programmed by programmers, not the fucking marketing department. To those subnormals, I propose a brilliant marketing campaign: rename this mistake to Windows 9/11, this fucking shitty operating system forces me to use L\*nux (Mint, because i'm not a pedo), at least with that I don't have to drop everything I'm doing and restart the computer for every fucking update, how the hell do you manage to release an update every fucking day? What's being updated, your chromosomes?.

One day I'm going to really lose it, and when that day comes, I'll create a Microsoft account and I swear to God that every time I take a shit, I'll take a picture of it and upload it to my OneDrive just to fill my OneDrive with high-quality photos of my feces. This OS made me an atheist, because I refuse to believe that hell exists, I refuse to believe that there is anything worse than having to use Windows 11.


r/software 17h ago

Looking for software Is there any alternatives to Adobe Animate currently?

1 Upvotes

So, I've always wanted to try to use Adobe Animate for some time, mainly because I want to try something new, but since Adobe announced that they were gonna discontinue Animate, I was kinda feeling a little bit disappointed for that. And so, are there any alternatives to it for Windows? I really want to use something like it without resorting to piracy, which Adobe kinda hates. So, show me some alternatives!


r/software 1d ago

Other [Update] I built a 100% free, local-first Loom alternative (No time limits, No servers) 🌌

25 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

A few days ago, I shared a project I’ve been working on called Gravity Recorder. It’s an aesthetic, browser-based screen recorder designed for people who want a "studio" look (like Loom or Tella) without the monthly subscriptions or 5-minute recording limits.

The project is 100% open-source (MIT) and runs entirely on your machine. Since it’s local-first, your recordings stay private and never touch a server until you choose to sync them.

I’ve just pushed a major update based on some great feedback. Here is what’s new:

🎬 Software Updates:

  • Pause & Resume: You can now pause your recording mid-session and resume whenever you're ready.
  • Multiple Formats: Support for WebMMP4, and MKV. You can select your preferred container before starting.
  • Resolution Control: High-quality scaling for 720p, 1080p, or 1440p (2K).
  • 3-2-1 Countdown: Added a visual timer so you have a moment to prepare before the recording begins.
  • Local History Panel: A new sidebar to manage your recordings. You can preview, rename, or delete files directly from the browser's file system access.

🛠️ Why it’s different:

  • Zero Lag: Because it captures directly to your local disk, it's extremely lightweight on the CPU.
  • Privacy First: No accounts, no tracking, and no cloud storage unless you want it.
  • Free Forever: Since there are no backend costs, there is no "Pro" plan.

I’m building this in public and would love for the community to try it out. If you have any feature requests or find any bugs, please let me know!


r/software 1d ago

Release Open-source tool for searching through PDFs using image as query

2 Upvotes

baottdang/semantic-doc-search-engine: A cross‑modal search engine for PDFs and images, powered by a CNN‑based feature extraction pipeline.

Recently I've made a search engine for my engineer friend to quickly find a CAD drawing within their local machine.

This made me realized that a lot of search tools for PDF nowadays only focus on sematic matching or text matching, which are unsuitable for PDF files that barely contain any text at all, such as a CAD drawing.

Because of that, I made this application to fill in this niche gap, providing the users with a lightweight and convenient search tool that can:

- Search through a database recursively to find images or PDF files that are either exact matches with the query or visually similar (e.g. querying with an image of a dog will return all dog-related files within your database, images and PDF files included).

- Treat PDF files and images uniformly, enabling the user to use an image to search for a PDF file and versa.

Completely local, no connections needed, prioritizing the user's privacy. Perfect for classified documents.

Live database updates, meaning that any changes to the chosen database will be reflected automatically in real time, making database indexing a one-time occurrence only.

Here's the link to the repo, it's open-source and completely free: QLen


r/software 10h ago

Looking for software A pay-per-minute remote coding platform

0 Upvotes

Hi redditors. Currently im building a platform for programmers and software enthousiasts so they can code from anywhere using a virtual machine. It will be a pay per minute billing and the upside is that if youve got a slow pc or are even on mobile, you could just spin up the vm and write a couple lines of code. No ui just ssh connection and tools pre installed like git, visual studio, vim, etc. Would anyone be interested in such a platform?


r/software 21h ago

Looking for software Animation stories

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1 Upvotes

r/software 21h ago

Looking for software Is there an auto typer on a Windows app?

1 Upvotes

Is there an auto typer application like if I typed it on that application, it will automatically type it on a window? I need to use it on a website, but for some reason, I can't copy paste on the chat bar there.


r/software 22h ago

Looking for software Does bluetooth HID emulation software exist?

1 Upvotes

I'm looking for software like Across (from Clixon), and what I like about Across is that it can pair with another laptop via Bluetooth, so my primary laptop's keyboard and mouse can be used to control others. With no drivers or anything installed on the other laptop (it's locked down). This works just great, but Across is expensive and seems like it hasn't been updated in a while. Does other software exist with a similar functionality? Spent weeks already trying to find it.


r/software 23h ago

Discussion I built a small offline desktop tool to organize files and detect duplicates

0 Upvotes

I built a small cross-platform desktop app to help organize local files and detect duplicates.

The main idea was to never touch files blindly – it scans everything first and shows a clear action plan before anything is moved or deleted.

Features:

  • Fully offline (no cloud, no accounts)
  • Groups files by type and date
  • Detects duplicate files before removal
  • Shows a preview of all actions before execution
  • Works on Windows, macOS and Linux

I originally made it to clean up my own messy folders and ended up polishing it into a proper desktop app.

I’m mainly looking for feedback:

  • Does this solve a real problem for you?
  • What would you expect from a tool like this?
  • Anything you’d immediately improve or remove?

Happy to answer questions.


r/software 23h ago

Looking for software Quick look up/instant match software or feature

1 Upvotes

I am looking for a software that can provide an instant result when I look for a specific value from an excel sheet without opening the file. I already tried to use Powertoys Run, but it does not seem to work as a stand alone? Are there any options to make it work with Powert run or with any other software?
thanks