“HELP! I normally use Linux, but I’m required to use Windows at work. Where are all the applications? You mean I have to buy those separately?!?!?”

If you are like me the transition from Linux to Windows can be frustrating. All of the applications that you are used to having are nowhere to be seen. And when you do find a suitable replacement it is always another $49.95. This is a quick reference on where to get the free applications that you are used to and where to pick up free alternatives to applications that have no Windows port. If you have a little budget to throw around then you might also check out our Recommended Software, for when the free software doesn’t cut it.

Part 1

First the applications that have a Windows port. You are probably used to these applications, so I won’t bother with the descriptions:

SVG Drawing — Inkscape
Photo Editing — The Gimp
File Comparison — KDiff
Office Suite — OpenOffice
Browser — Firefox
Email — Thunderbird
C# Compiler — Mono

Part 2

Now, here are some alternatives to applications that you may have been using on Linux that have no direct port:

Code Editor
PSPad
This code editor is actually quite good. It may be missing a few things that editors like Quanta+ have, but it also has a few things that the other guys don’t. This is a good alternative.
Also worth mentioning are Crimson Edit, 1st Page 2000, and the ever faithful VIM / Emacs

C++ Compiler

Borland C++ Compiler
A good little compiler for your C++ projects. Borland requires that you register with them for the download, but it is a free product and doesn’t nag about upgrading. It has a much more narrow purpose than the gargantuan gcc, but if all you need is a solid C++ compiler then it is a great replacement.

SSH Client

Putty
Putty is a great application. It does not have to be installed and it has a very small footprint. This is a great replacement of the plethora of clients available on Linux.

FTP/SFTP Client
FileZilla
FileZilla is a good alternative to gFTP and others on Linux. It is hard to find free clients that will do ftp over SSH, so if this is one of your requirements then FileZilla may be your only choice. Regardless, it is a nice application that does it’s purpose well. This is a good alternative.

Mp3/Ogg player
Winamp
I’ve never been a big fan of WinAmp, but it is the only major media player that treats Ogg files like normal music files. You can get WMP to play them, but it will not treat them like normal music files when you do searches and sorts. Unfortunately, WinAmp doesn’t give you great sorting abilities like you would get from JuK. It is an acceptable alternative….A JuK port would be better.

UnZip Utility — Bigspeed Zipper
Bypass all those shareware products like WinZip that constantly bug you to upgrade to the “professional” version and just go with Bigspeed Zipper. It only comes in one size: Professional. It zips and unzips files like you would expect and adds an option to the right-click context menu that allows you to select and zip a group of files. Great alternative to the standard tools available with most Linux distributions.

PDF Printing — PDF Creator
Coming from Linux you were probably quite used to being able to print from any application to a PDF. By installing this program you will be able to do this in windows. Great alternative, no complaints.

Virtual Desktops — MSVDM
This is quite possibly the worst Virtual Desktop manager I have ever used. Unfortunately it is also the only free one available for Windows.

• It has no method to move windows from one desktop to another so if you open a program on one desktop you literally have to close the application and reopen it on another desktop to move it.
• When switching desktops if you have 2 Internet Explorer windows open on different desktops it will kindly close one of them for you.
• When switching desktops it will kindly remove the toolbars and/or menus from certain applications (including some versions of Word and Excel), so you can no longer have buttons or menus to do silly things like “Save”. Remember that CTRL-S is the shortcut for “Save” so you don’t have to lose your data because of this bug.

This is a horrible replacement for the virtual desktops in Linux, but it will have to do.

Part 3

Things you will miss:

Desktop Publishing
Scribus
The Windows port for this program is still in the works, so you’ll have to do without for awhile. In the meantime you might try RagTime Solo or PagePlus SE

CD Burning — K3B
You will have to go with a commercial application for CD/DVD burning, none of the free applications can hold a penny to the Linux-only K3B. Hopefully your burner came with a version of Nero you can use. If not, you can probably buy a new burner that comes with Nero for less than just buying Nero.

Copy/Paste
Middle Click Paste
Unfortunately, Windows has no way to implement the highlight+middle click to copy and paste that is available in Linux. It takes awhile to get used to but CTRL-C and CTRL-V will work…it is just annoying to have to use the keyboard for something so simple.