The internet is home to a burgeoning “PC Master Race” community.
Headquartered at reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace, the community is filled with people who have “ascended” to the euphoria of PC gaming.
In other words, they’ve spent a few hundred dollars building a gaming PC and now spend most of their days looking down on console players for suffering through 30fps 720p “next gen” games.
But a recent thread on the PC Master Race subreddit will appeal to all PC users around the world. That thread was titled “Programs you can’t live without” and it revealed some obvious programs (Steam) and some not-so-obvious choices, like desktop organization tool “Fences”.
Anyways, without further ado, here are some of the programs that the PC Master Race cannot live without:
Steam
Steam was the highest rated comment in the thread for obvious reasons. In the church of Gaben, Steam is the holy gospel. Or something. For those who have not yet ascended, Steam is a game distribution platform that includes extensive modding, development, and review features. It’s also free.

Fences
Fences is one of those gloriously simple tools that will change the way you use your PC. Fences separates your PC’s desktop into different fenced off areas. You can put your schoolwork in one area and your game shortcuts in another area. You can also define rules that will help you keep your desktop organized over time. The 30 day trial of Fences is free but you’ll have to pay $9.99 after that trial period.

Ninite
One of the best feelings in the world is booting up a brand new PC for the first time. There’s even a special joy in reinstalling all your favorite software and games. Ninite takes all of the hassle out of reinstalling software. At Ninite.com, you can simply check which free programs you want to install on your PC, and then download an installer tool that will instantly install all of that software. From VLC to Chrome to iTunes, Ninite is one of the most useful programs ever made.

SpaceSniffer
SpaceSniffer is a free software tool which lets you instantly visualize space allocation on your hard drives. If you’re trying to clean up your PC and identify wasted space, SpaceSniffer is an excellent solution. You can download SpaceSniffer from here.

WizMouse
WizMouse is another one of those tools that you may not have heard of, but it may change your life. WizMouse enables scrolling on all windows across your screen: so instead of clicking on each window when you need to scroll, you can simply move your mouse around. It’s simple but amazingly helpful. Download WizMouse for free from here.
Clover
Clover adds tabs to Windows Explorer. No, not Internet Explorer: Windows Explorer. If you’re browsing through your Documents folder, you can open a new tab to check out your music folder or Program Files. I can’t believe Microsoft has never added this to Windows – it’s an amazing way to save time. Clover, like everything else on this list, is a free download available from here.

Rainmeter
Want to make your desktop beautiful? Use Rainmeter. Rainmeter basically takes the concept of “desktop gadgets” to the next level. You can view things like current CPU usage, RAM usage, and plenty of other valuable information directly on your desktop. You can also add time, weather information, and much, much more. If you’ve ever seen pictures of cool desktops/battlestations on the internet, then you’ll see many of them using Rainmeter to make their desktops look as beautiful as possible.

F.lux
F.lux is one I personally use. F.lux saves your eyes. It dims your monitor at night – which means your eyes won’t have to strain while using your monitor and you don’t have to worry about disrupting your sleep cycles when you stay up late on your PC. F.lux automatically dims your monitor based on your location – so whether you’re at the equator or the North Pole, F.lux will adjust itself based on when the sun goes down at your latitude. Nice!

Notepad++
Do you like Notepad but get frustrated by its limits? Every programmer knows about Notepad++, which offers extensive features like syntax highlighting, customizable GUI, WYSIWYG interface for printing, and much more. If you just use Notepad to jot down random ideas, you don’t need Notepad++. But if you regularly work with programming languages, Notepad++ is virtually required.