Microsoft loves to tell us that Windows 11 is a mature, comprehensive operating system, a polished jewel in the crown of personal computing. They tout the rounded corners, the centered Start menu, and the productivity bits like Snap Layouts as though they've reinvented the wheel. However, if you’ve spent any significant time trying out Linux distros or even macOS, getting any work done on Windows usually needs additional tools, supplements, and crutches to see you through the finish line. Sure, it's an OS meant for millions, so the needs of each aren't met readily, and I will need to add my own software to the mix, but Windows 11 still feels unfinished. Allow me to explain.

I’m one of those users who refuse to accept the status quo. I need computers to work optimally for my desired usage. Yet, in 2026, we still need to download external software just to see which files are eating our hard drive space or navigate through a RAR archive without extracting its contents. The reliance on third-party developers to patch these gaping functional holes isn't an ecosystem quirk, but more like Microsoft's unwillingness to acknowledge blind spots in the available feature set. PowerToys isn't enough, and the community has stepped up where Redmond has slacked off, providing essential utilities that help me feel the OS is complete. This isn't a comprehensive list, but one featuring the noteworthy tools I use frequently, which I would rather be native options.

TreeSize Free

Sort by size and nuke the junk easily

Every time my storage drive usage bar turns red in File Explorer, I feel a familiar spike of annoyance — because I know I have to hunt down the culprit now, and Windows is rather unhelpful in this regard. It forces you to click into a folder, wait for it to load, manually sort by size, realize the big file isn't there, and then repeat the process in a dozen other subfolders. It’s a game of whack-a-mole that wastes time and patience. That’s why TreeSize Free is the first thing I install on a sluggish computer. It instantly visualizes your disk usage with a sortable treemap, showing you exactly which folders are hogging your storage in a way that makes sense to the ape in me — big number bad.

I can drill down into directories and nuke the offenders like a forgotten 50GB game install or a bloated temp folder. Microsoft’s attempt at this, Storage Sense, feels like a black box that decides what it thinks I don't need, rather than giving me the tools to make an informed decision. The OS does a good job consolidating storage optimization settings, but the approach feels unstructured when dealing with personal files. It should include a graphical "what’s using my disk" view that combines the visual clarity of a treemap with the ability to sort folder sizes globally, and not just the system files. We need one centralized place to clean temp files, old installers, large forgotten items, and cloud cache explicitly by size, not by some automated heuristic that's explained in an obscure support document.

WinMerge

Microsoft missed out big time not merging this one

If you write code, manage servers, or just organize a lot of documents, you know the pain of trying to figure out which version of a file is the newest one, because sorting by Date Modified doesn't always cut it, especially if you frequently revert to older versions of files. Developers and admins routinely install tools like WinMerge because File Explorer has zero native capability to compare file contents. It is absurd that I can’t select two files, right-click, and see a side-by-side comparison of what actually changed. WinMerge handles this beautifully, highlighting differences in text, offering basic XML/JSON awareness, and even allowing for side-by-side folder synchronization.

Microsoft should have shipped a built-in diff and merge tool integrated directly into the File Explorer context menu decades ago, even if under the pretext of managing duplicates. I’m not asking for a full IDE, but we shouldn't have to eyeball two open Notepad windows to see if a config file has been updated. A native implementation would save countless errors and make version control accessible to the average user, not just those of us nerdy enough to install dedicated tools.

Other tools I wish Windows included

Woeful shortcomings

In a similar vein, I despise how Windows gives us almost no way to easily check if installed drives are performing optimally, or nearing the end of their life. We entrust SSDs with our digital existence, but the OS does a disservice in omitting a benchmark utility to check for speed degradation the way CrystalDiskMark does. Windows buries drive health percentages in the Settings menu under System -> Storage -> Advanced Storage Settings -> Disks & Volumes, but I’ve had diskpart.exe fail on me enough times to know that these tools aren't always the reliable savior we pretend they are.

A benchmark tool integrated into the OS feels like a tall order for Microsoft, but the company can start by making storage health more accessible in the Settings, preferably with an infographic or progress bar. It would save so much guesswork when distinguishing between a bloated OS and failing hardware. A similar situation arises when I have to guess why my internet is slow or why my fans are spinning up. I'm forced to resort to tools like TrafficMonitor, XMeters, Rainmeter, or MSI Afterburner just to see basic CPU, RAM, GPU, and network usage in real-time on the desktop or taskbar. The Task Manager is great, but it’s a window I have to open and manage. I want that data at a glance, always visible, without interrupting my workflow.

Microsoft should ship a lightweight, always-on-top performance overlay — or better yet, a native taskbar integration — that shows live stats for system resources. All that space surrounding the centered icons is wasted anyway. Tools like TrafficMonitor are a testament that this can be done elegantly without consuming resources, and it’s high time Windows offered this out of the box.

Lastly, unlocking audio potential, Windows audio settings are shockingly primitive. You get a volume slider and little else. Windows Sonic is mostly useless, and the Bass Boost checkbox doesn't cater to everyone. I'm forced to install FXSound or the Peace skin with EqualizerAPO on every computer for system-wide parametric equalization. It should be a native Windows feature. The ability to apply an equalizer profile to a specific audio output device is basic functionality in the audio world. Microsoft relies entirely on hardware manufacturers to provide this software, resulting in a bloated mess of Realtek Audio Consoles.

Feedback isn't a complaint

I write this because I actually like Windows, and not with the intention to complain. It’s my daily driver, my gaming rig, and my workstation, and that's also why these seemingly minor omissions seem like glaring shortcomings to me. Sure, I don't need to make hue and cry about it because I'm already using third-party software to cope. However, for those of us who live on our PCs, who don't juggle between OSes, and who use Windows primarily as power users, these tools aren't optional. Microsoft would be acknowledging how people actually use computers if it bothered to add these bits.