I use Linux as my primary operating system at home. At office it is always Windows. My personal observation in using both operating systems is that the quality of most applications on Windows is slightly better than Linux, though the gap is now narrowing fast. The following is the list of applications that I use in Windows and the corresponding equivalents I use in Linux. This list is by no means exhaustive. Just the ones that I use everyday.
| Sl No | Software | Best Linux Equivalent | Honorable Mention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox | Mozilla Firefox | Opera |
| 2 | FileZilla | gFTP | FileZilla |
| 3 | Microsoft Office | OpenOffice.org | Unfortunately, none. |
| 4 | Adobe Photoshop | Unfortunately, none | Gimp |
| 5 | iTunes | Amarok | Rhythmbox |
| 6 | Microsoft Outlook (Mail and Scheduling) | Evolution | None |
| 7 | uTorrent, Azureus | Azureus | Deluge-Torrent |
| 8 | Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse | Eclipse | MonoDevelop |
| 9 | Yahoo, AIM, MSN messenger | Pidgin | None |
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not Linux savvie, but would like to be. I’m in the same boat, my office uses Windows and that’s not going to change anytime soon.
I find I’m using more and more Google stuff, especially Gmail which is my primary email client and therefore is accessible from either operating system. Is Google becoming the new Microsoft?
For IM’s it’s possible to use Gaim for Linux and therefore have access to both MSN & Yahoo.
I already use OpenOffice for Windows, though I have Office installed anyway, just in case.
Not sure if the above means much, it’s just my two cents worth.
@Steve
I do agree with Google becoming a Microsoft. Web based tools from Google are simple to use and almost as much powerful as the desktop equivalents. Slowly, they are becoming as big as Microsoft in terms of revenues and Market cap.
And yes, I forgot to add to add the IM equivalents. I will update the post.
BTW, What theme are using for Drupal in your website. I like the simplicity and would like to use the same here. Is it your own theme?
Hmmm… I found its the zen theme
Spot on, it’s Zen. I like the simplicity of it. I haven’t really altered anything other than the style.css to account for my little tables (for stats) I have in my running posts.
As Graphic Designers, my brother and I have, over the past ten or twelve years, used pretty-much every major productivity software out there at least once (our first computer was an Amiga 500). Over the past few years since we’ve been freelance we’ve switched entirely to Open Source software, not only because it’s free but we like the philosophy and the community behind it.
I will agree that many of the tools aren’s as easy to get to grips with and have strange interfaces (Blender being the chief example) but we have successfully completed offset print work using entirely open-source or free software from beginning to end. Designing and preparing for Offset is not a task for the faint of heart even with Adobe software, but if you are patient and willing to give them a chance Open Source solutions do work admirably well.
One software you haven’t mentioned but which I use a lot is Inkscape, an vector graphic program (equivalent to Adobe Illustrator) that uses the new SVG web format. It’s got to a point where I can’t imagine going back to Illustrator.
I haven’t delved into the GIMP all that much, so I can’t comment on whether or not it matches Photoshop pound for pound, but for my work so far I haven’t ever found it lacking.
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