From LQWiki
When migrating to Linux from Windows, a common question is "Where can I get an application for Linux that is similar to XYZ program on Windows?" Fear not! Listed below are programs that could be considered roughly equivalent to certain popular Windows applications. Note that the Linux programs might not have all the features which can be found in Windows proprietary software, but unless you are an expert in some Windows program this should not be a major obstacle.
Contents |
Office and Productivity
| Windows apps | Linux apps | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org | OpenOffice, KOffice, Siag Office | Office package |
| Word | OOWriter, AbiWord, KWord, LaTeX | Word processing and typesetting |
| Notepad, Wordpad, TheGun, EditPlus, SciTE | text editors | |
| Access, dBase, Foxpro, Paradox | Kexi, OOBase | Database |
| Excel, Lotus123, QuattroPro | OOCalc, Gnumeric, KSpread | Spreadsheet |
| Visio | Kivio, Dia, OpenOffice.org oodraw | Diagramming |
| PowerPoint | OOImpress, KPresenter | Presentation |
| Microsoft Project Manager | MrProject, Imendio Planner, Kplato | Project management |
| Outlook, Thunderbird + Lightning, Sunbird | Evolution, Kontact, BALSA, Thunderbird + Lightning, Sunbird | Personal information managers |
| Alcohol 120%, Discjuggler, Easy CD Creator, Nero Burning ROM | CD burning | |
| Quicken, Microsoft Money, TurboTax | GnuCash, KMyMoney, jGnash, MoneyDance, Grisbi, PLCash, CrossOver Office with Quicken, lazy8ledger | Accounting |
| ActiveSync | Synchronization with Windows Mobile devices | |
| WinEdt, TeXnicCenter | Kile, Texmaker, LyX | LaTeX IDEs |
| Veritas Backup Exec, Cobian Backup | Backup | |
| Google Desktop | Desktop Search | |
| Norton Ghost | Disk imaging | |
| Norton Partition Magic |
QTparted, GParted, Palimpsest (in development) | Disk partitioning |
| Disk Size Explorer | File Light, Konqueror | Disk usage analyzers |
| Filemon, Regmon | syscalltrack | system call tracking (file monitor & others) |
| WinMerge, SyncToy | File synchronization | |
| Windows Update, Add/Remove programs | Every Linux distribution has an infrastructure to manage installed software which is quite different from Windows. For instance, all updates are handled by a single program. See package management. | |
| WinRunner | xautomation | automating interactive applications |
| 7-Zip, Winzip, Winrar | Archivers | |
| chkdsk | fsck | check your file system (and the hard disk beneath it) for errors |
| Daemon Tools | ISO mounting | |
| Disclib |
Desktop Publishing
| Windows apps | Linux apps | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dreamweaver, NVU, KompoZer | Web Design | |
| Quark, Quark Express, Microsoft Publisher | DTP software | |
| Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader | PDF readers | |
| Adobe Acrobat Distiller, PDFCreator |
CUPS-PDF, OpenOffice.org, kprint -- can fax, convert to pdf, and combine pages. more | PDF authoring |
| Adobe Acrobat PDF editor | PDF editing tools | |
| SilverFast | scanning | |
| FinePrint |
page-crunch, mpage, Kprinter, psnup/PSutils, pdfnup/PDFjam | Document printing/reformatting tools |
Networking
| Windows apps | Linux apps | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, Opera, Lynx, etc. | Internet browsers for the World Wide Web. | |
| Outlook Express, Outlook, Thunderbird, Pegasus, Lotus Notes | Email clients. | |
| ICQ, MSN Messenger, AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), Trillian, Pidgin | Instant messaging software. | |
| Microsoft Netmeeting | ||
| Microsoft HyperTerminal | ||
| FileZilla FTP Client, WS FTP, Bullet Proof FTP, CuteFTP |
FileZilla FTP Client, KFTP (KFTPGrabber), Kasablanca, FireFTP, Konqueror, KBear, CrossFTP, Nautilus | FTP clients. Note that dedicated FTP clients are rarely needed on Linux, since the default file manager can usually browse FTP shares. Several GNOME programs can directly open and edit files on FTP, SFTP and WebDAV shares. |
| mIRC | irc Clients | |
| UltraVNC, TightVNC, RealVNC, Remote Desktop |
TightVNC, RealVNC, rdesktop, FreeNX, x11vnc, Synergy, XDMCP, SSH with X11 forwarding (-X or -Y option) | deskTop shaRing |
| MailWasher | ||
| Forte Free Agent, Thunderbird, Pan | News Reader (Usenet newsgroups) | |
| eMule | ED2K P2P network clients | |
| Azureus, utorrent |
Azureus, Qtorrent, Ktorrent, bittornado, Deluge, Transmission | BitTorrent P2P network clients |
| Skype, Voipbuster | VOIP software | |
| Bitvise Tunnelier | gSTM is a front-end for managing SSH-tunneled port redirects. |
Server
| Windows apps | Linux apps | Description |
|---|---|---|
| IIS, Apache | HTTP servers | |
| Folder sharing, printer sharing | Share files and printers between Windows and Linux systems. Installed by default on most distributions. | |
| IIS, FileZilla FTP Client & Server | proftpd, vsftpd, pure-ftpd | FTP servers, for hosting files. |
| NetLimiter |
Trickle, Level 7 Filter, ClarkConnect, Bandwidth Arbitrator, MasterShaper | Bandwidth shaping and management. |
| Exchange | Groupware (sharing of appointments, contacts, e-mail, documents, etc. between members of a group) | |
| Sharepoint | Manage and secure documents, collaborate around document creation and editing, full document contents indexing | |
| Norton/McAfee Antivirus, ClamWin, AVG, AntiVir | Antivirus software. | |
| ZoneAlarm , Sygate SPF | Firewall software |
Multimedia
| Windows apps | Linux apps | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Photoshop,Corel Photo-Paint, GIMP, GIMPShop |
GIMP, GIMPShop, Krita, Pixel (non-free high quality), LightZone (non-free high quality) | Raster graphics editors |
| Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator | Vector graphics editors | |
| Irfanview, ACDSee | Image viewers | |
| 3D Studio MAX, Blender, Maya | 3D modeling software | |
| Windows Media Player, PowerDVD | Video pLayers | |
| SIA Smaart Live | ||
| Winamp, Sonique, iTunes, aTunes |
amaroK, aTunes, XMMS, BMP, Audacious, noatun, RhythmBox, xine will play aac and wma, Banshee | Music pLayers |
| Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere Elements,Multiquence | Video editing tools | |
| Audacity, Cubase, CoolEdit, GoldWave | Digital audio workstation software | |
| Audio Catalyst, dbpoweramp, CDex | ||
| Cakewalk | ||
| NoteWorthy Composer, MuseScore, LilyPond | Musical score typesetting | |
| GuitarPro, TuxGuitar | Guitar tablature editors | |
| Microsoft Paint, Kid Pix, Tux Paint | Basic raster painting programs | |
| Videora |
Education
| Windows apps | Linux apps | Description |
|---|---|---|
| KTouch | Touch typing tutors | |
| Maple, Mathematica | Maple, Mathematica, Maxima | Computer algebra systems |
| Matlab | High level numeric computation environments | |
| SPSS, Stata, EViews | Statistical analysis | |
| Verilog | Verilog Simulator | |
| Google Earth, NASA World Wind, Celestia, Stellarium | Geography and astronomy |
Please add new applications to this list. A good resource is the BeetleSpace Windows/Linux Software Table of Equivalents, which is GNU FDL licensed.
See also
- running windows software
- The table of equivalents / replacements / analogs of Windows software in Linux. (www.linuxrsp.ru)
- Ubuntu software equivalents's page (wiki.ubuntu.com)
- The Linux Equivalent Project (www.linuxeq.com)

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