Windows is becoming a power-user OS again, but only because PowerToys fixed it first

Microsoft PowerToys has evolved into an essential toolkit for Windows power users, addressing long-standing friction points that Microsoft never natively solved. Key features highlighted include FancyZones for persistent custom window layouts, Command Palette as a unified OS-wide launcher, Advanced Paste for flexible clipboard formatting including AI-powered transformations via OpenAI, and Text Extractor for data collection. Together these tools replace the patchwork of third-party utilities that power users previously relied on, making Windows feel genuinely attuned to professional workflows — all for free and open source.