I'm making a suite of simple Windows tray apps that do just one thing. They often have existing equivalents but I think my version is better and/or simpler ;-) All work starting with Win7.

The first three are:

- miniWake: keeps the computer awake

Alternatives: Powertools; USB mouse jigglers

Features: installs without admin rights; triggers invisible mouse events; turns off at LOCK, turns back on at LOCKOFF (saves battery); manual turn off or on via double-click on the icon

- miniRec: records system audio + microphone to mp3/wav

Alternatives: various utilities like Voicemeter, AudioRouter, or some DAWs

Features: does not require any special driver; installs without admin rights; light on resources; "invisible" to third parties (video meetings); auto turn off after 5 minutes of silence (configurable)

- miniCron: system scheduler as a service

Alternatives: NSSM - the Non-Sucking Service Manager; Splinterware

Features: launches any program at any given time (cron like but without cron syntax); kills the current task when the service is stopped; reads and logs stdin/stderr; very light on ressources and very simple

Two others are in the works.

I just posted my recorder app that does the same thing. I use NAudio WasapiLoopbackCapture. it's written in C#

Ah yes, it's a good idea to record microphone and system audio to different files but I ruled against it for simplicity's sake. I wonder how you deal with offset, esp. when the mic comes from a Bluetooth headset? I added an offset option in the config file as this can be up to 2000 ms (2s) in my tests! Also, a console app may frighten the non-technical, casual user?

But anyway, great minds think alike I guess! ;-)