While Linux is a great operating system and is constantly improving on the desktop, you don’t need to run it to take advantage of some great open source applications. Many Open source programs that are popular on Linux distributions have native Windows versions.. These are some of my favorites.
Firefox
Still the leading open source browser
Although it is no longer my main browser, Firefox It’s still a great browser on its own. It is still the most common default browser on most major Linux distributions, including Ubuntu. While usage has declined since Firefox’s heyday in the 2000s, Firefox has a loyal following as Mozilla continues to promote the open web, open source, and privacy.
As with Google Chrome, you can customize Firefox with many extensions. The full Ublock Origin is still available in Firefox.
LibreOffice
Who needs a Microsoft 365 subscription?
Microsoft Office remains the leading Windows productivity suite. Word, Excel and others continue to be the main applications for completing work and school tasks. I’m sure that when the Apocalypse comes, it will have been prepared in an Excel workbook. Even AI probably won’t kill him.
While Office is ubiquitous, using it can cost you. Before, when you bought a copy of Office, it was yours, or rather, you had the license. Many people probably never felt the need to upgrade when newer versions came out. Microsoft now sells Office as a subscription called Microsoft 365.
LibreOffice, another Linux desktop staple, is also available for Windows. The best part is that you can open and create common document formats, such as Word and Excel files, without the need for subscription fees.
WSL
A real Linux command line, on Windows
Linux distributions include a powerful command line interface by default. That was one of the distinguishing features of Linux compared to Windows. While there was a command prompt in Windows, it wasn’t that powerful even when it became a troubleshooting staple. Environments like Cygwin emerged to offer Unix-like tools on Windows.
With Windows Subsystem for Linux, you can run real Linux command-line and graphical applications on Windows 11. WSL installation It’s a great way to get comfortable with the Linux command line.
VLC
If it exists, you can play it in VLC.
While local media players aren’t as important as they used to be with the rise of streaming media, you will often find that you need to play some media. Or maybe you’ve dug up your physical DVDs. Windows no longer comes with DVD decoding by default, so VLC can fill the void. VLC has long been an open source favorite because it can play almost any existing digital media format, including DVDs. For this reason, it is worth having VLC on your system.
Notepad++
A major update to Notepad
Notepad has been a preferred tool for making quick changes to plain text configuration files because it is available on all Windows systems. It might be the most used text editor out there. According to the numbers, it is probably the most installed.
Notepad++ It is a capable open source replacement. I like it because it offers tabbed editing and syntax highlighting that aren’t part of standard Notepad.
Push
Wherever you go, Vim is there to edit your text
Push is my editor of choice because it inherits the Vi keyboard navigation commands. It feels very comfortable on my fingers, especially on laptop chiclet keyboards.
On Windows, I usually use it in the terminal under WSL, but a native version is available that supports the GUI. You might think of Vim as a Linux application, but it started life on the Amiga. It seems that wherever you go, Vim will be there.
Audacity
Free audio editing
Audio editing seems to be another basic application that has fallen by the wayside on modern systems. I used to enjoy playing with Sound Recorder on Windows. The sound recorder still exists, but Audacity It is a cross-platform app that has a loyal following. It’s easy to use but includes some powerful scripting options.
GIMP
A viable alternative to Photoshop
Microsoft Paint remains a ubiquitous program on Windows. Using it will automatically add an extra level of hilarity to your artwork. If you’re looking for serious image manipulation and don’t want to pay an Adobe subscription, GIMP it’s you best bet.
Despite its popularity on Linux distributions, it will happily run as a native Windows program. I use it with my work for HTG, mainly for resizing and occasionally annotating screenshots that will appear in my articles.
qBittorrent
A BitTorrent client that goes off track
For downloading large files, there is nothing better than the BitTorrent protocol. The biggest legitimate use of BitTorrent is probably downloading Linux distributions. Because of the way BitTorrent works, the ISO download effectively verifies itself (ISO verification seems to be one of those things that everyone thinks you should do but no one does).
Qbittorrent It could be the best Bittorrent client for Windows. I use it all the time to download Linux ISOs for my HTG work.
7 zippers
Improve the decompression of your files
7 zippers is a compression and decompression utility that not only supports its native .7z file format, but also handles common formats like .tar and .zip files. The latter is probably the main reason you install it. While Windows Explorer can handle .zip files natively, 7-Zip has the advantage of handling more formats. It could be a Swiss army knife of file compression. Unlike WinRAR, it will never bother you regarding logging, because you can’t “register” it even if you wanted to.
Update your Windows with open source applications
If you want to fix some of Windows’ annoyances but can’t or don’t want to leave Windows completely, these open source apps can help you make life on Windows more enjoyable. Since many of them run on Linux, if you make the switch, you’ll be familiar with these popular programs.
