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Revision as of 14:56, 13 January 2018
Here is a list of popular free software applications that run on Microsoft Windows — along with the proprietary applications they replace. If you are still a user of a nonfree operating system like Windows or iOS, you can take a first step towards free software by installing these applications on your platform.
When we say these application programs are free software, we're talking about freedom, not price. It means that you are free to use these programs constructively, either alone or in a community, while respecting the freedom of others. The source code is available, so that you can study the software, adapt it to your needs, fix bugs, and release versions with new features. You can also convince or pay others to do these things for you. You are also free to give away and free to sell copies, under the terms of the applicable free software license. These programs are free software because you have freedom in using them. Free software develops under the control of its users.
Microsoft Windows is a clear and instructive example of nonfree software. Its source code is a secret, so programmers cannot learn from it, fix it, adapt it to their clients (your) needs, or even verify what it really does. If you share copies with your neighbors, you will be called a “pirate”, and users have been threatened with imprisonment for this. Nonfree software is completely controlled by its developer, who also has power over the users. We started the free software movement because this power is unjust.
Using free software on Microsoft Windows (or any nonfree operating system) is the first step towards freedom, but it does not get you all the way there. You're still under Microsoft's power as long as you use Windows.
So the next step is to replace Windows with a operating system such as GNU/Linux.
However, on this page we're concerned with the first step.
Software with external links do not have GNU/Linux support so they will not be added to Free Software Directory as required by the policy.
Contents
OS
GNU/Linux
Common distros usually provides a repository of nonfree software. Free GNU/Linux distros do not permit non-free software.
Type | Free program | Replacement for |
---|---|---|
3D computer graphics software | Blender | Autodesk Maya ("Maya") |
Anonymous P2P | GNUnet | ? |
BitTorrent client | Tribler, qBittorrent | ? |
Compiler | Mingw-w64 | ? |
Desktop publishing | Scribus | ? |
Diagramming software | Dia | ? |
Document viewer | Evince | Adobe Reader |
Email client, news client, feed reader | Mozilla Thunderbird | ? |
VoIP, telephony, softphone, SIP | GNU Ring, Linphone | Skype, Signal |
Instant messaging client | Pidgin | ICQ, Trillian, Yahoo! Messenger |
Live USB | Ubuntu Live USB creator | UNetbootin |
Media player | VLC media player (VLC) | ? |
Office suite | LibreOffice (OpenOffice.org fork) | ? |
Online storage | ownCloud (client only) | Dropbox |
Raster graphics editor | GIMP | ? |
Text editor | Emacs, Gedit, Vim | ? |
Vector graphics editor | Inkscape | ? |
Web browser | GNU IceCat (Mozilla Firefox ESR fork) | Chromium, Google Chrome, Firefox |
GNU/Hurd
There are no stable GNU/Hurd distros yet.
BSD
Type | Free program | Replacement for |
---|---|---|
3D computer graphics software | Blender | |
Anonymous P2P | GNUnet | ? |
BitTorrent client | Tribler, qBittorrent | ? |
Compiler | Mingw-w64 | |
Desktop publishing | Scribus | ? |
Diagramming software | Dia | ? |
Document viewer | Evince | |
Email client, news client, feed reader | Mozilla Thunderbird | |
VoIP, telephony, softphone, SIP | GNU Ring, Linphone | |
Instant messaging client | Pidgin | Yahoo! Messenger |
Live USB | UNetbootin | |
Media player | VLC media player (VLC) | ? |
Office suite | LibreOffice (OpenOffice.org fork) | ? |
Online storage | ownCloud (client only) | |
Raster graphics editor | GIMP | ? |
Text editor | Emacs, Vim | ? |
Vector graphics editor | Inkscape | ? |
Web browser | GNU IceCat (Mozilla Firefox ESR fork) |
Android
Type | Free program | Replacement for |
---|---|---|
3D computer graphics software | Blender | |
Anonymous P2P | GNUnet | |
BitTorrent client | Tribler, qBittorrent | |
Compiler | Mingw-w64 | |
Desktop publishing | Scribus | |
Diagramming software | Dia | |
Document viewer | Evince | |
Email client, news client, feed reader | Mozilla Thunderbird | |
VoIP, telephony, softphone, SIP | GNU Ring, Linphone | Skype, Signal |
Instant messaging client | Pidgin | Facebook Messenger, ICQ, Trillian, Yahoo! Messenger |
Live USB | ||
Media player | VLC media player (VLC) | ? |
Office suite | LibreOffice (OpenOffice.org fork) | |
Online storage | ownCloud (client only) | Dropbox |
Raster graphics editor | GIMP | |
Text editor | Markor | ? |
Vector graphics editor | Inkscape | |
Web browser | GNU IceCat (Mozilla Firefox ESR fork), Orfox | Firefox |
Apple
macOS
Type | Free program | Replacement for |
---|---|---|
3D computer graphics software | Blender | Autodesk Maya ("Maya") |
Anonymous P2P | GNUnet | ? |
BitTorrent client | Tribler, qBittorrent | BitTorrent |
Compiler | Mingw-w64 | |
Desktop publishing | Scribus | Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress |
Diagramming software | Dia | |
Document viewer | Evince | Adobe Reader |
Email client, news client, feed reader | Mozilla Thunderbird | Apple Mail (included) |
VoIP, telephony, softphone, SIP | GNU Ring, Linphone | Apple iMessage |
Instant messaging client | Pidgin | Facebook Messenger, ICQ, Trillian, Yahoo! Messenger |
Live USB | Apple Disk Utility, UNetbootin | |
Media player | VLC media player (VLC) | Apple QuickTime |
Office suite | LibreOffice (OpenOffice.org fork) | Microsoft Office |
Online storage | ownCloud (client only) | Dropbox |
Raster graphics editor | GIMP | Adobe Photoshop |
Text editor | Emacs, Vim | Notes |
Vector graphics editor | Inkscape | Adobe Illustrator |
Web browser | GNU IceCat (Mozilla Firefox ESR fork) | Apple Safari (included), Chromium, Google Chrome, Firefox |
iOS
We urge all iOS users to switch to a mobile device that supports Replicant (or a free GNU/Linux distribution) as soon as possible.
Windows can be easily replaced with a free operating system on most PCs, but not iOS: there are ways to install Android on some iThings, but its free counterpart, Replicant, cannot be installed on any of them.
You may want to check the Runs-on/iOS category in our Free Software Directory for more software.
If you are technically minded, you may find it interesting to build these apps from source code rather than download them from the App Store.
Type | Free program | Replacement for |
---|---|---|
3D computer graphics software | Blender | |
Anonymous P2P | GNUnet | |
BitTorrent client | Tribler, qBittorrent | |
Compiler | Mingw-w64 | |
Desktop publishing | Scribus | |
Diagramming software | Dia | |
Document viewer | Evince | |
Email client, news client, feed reader | Mozilla Thunderbird | |
VoIP, telephony, softphone, SIP | GNU Ring, Linphone | Apple iMessage |
Instant messaging client | Pidgin | ICQ, Trillian, Yahoo! Messenger |
Live USB | ||
Media player | VLC media player (VLC) | ? |
Office suite | LibreOffice (OpenOffice.org fork) | |
Online storage | ownCloud (client only) | Dropbox |
Raster graphics editor | GIMP | |
Text editor | Vim | Notes |
Vector graphics editor | Inkscape | |
Web browser | OnionBrowser | Apple Safari (included), Chromium, Google Chrome, Firefox |
Microsoft
Windows
Type | Free program | Replacement for |
---|---|---|
3D computer graphics software | Blender | Autodesk Maya ("Maya"), Autodesk 3ds Max |
Anonymous P2P | GNUnet | DC++ |
BitTorrent client | Tribler, qBittorrent | BitTorrent |
Compiler | Mingw-w64 | Microsoft Visual C++ |
Desktop publishing | Scribus | Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress |
Diagramming software | Dia | Microsoft Visio |
Document viewer | Evince | Adobe Reader, Microsoft Reader, Nitro PDF Reader |
Email client, news client, feed reader | Mozilla Thunderbird | Microsoft Outlook, Windows Mail (included) |
VoIP, telephony, softphone, SIP | GNU Ring, Linphone | Skype, Signal |
Instant messaging client | Pidgin | ICQ, Trillian, Yahoo! Messenger |
Live USB | Rufus | UNetbootin, Windows To Go (included) |
Media player | VLC media player (VLC) | PowerDVD, Windows Media Player, Apple QuickTime |
Office suite | LibreOffice (OpenOffice.org fork) | Microsoft Office |
Online storage | ownCloud (client only) | Apple iCloud, Dropbox |
Raster graphics editor | GIMP | PaintShop Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Paint (included) |
Text editor | Vim | |
Vector graphics editor | Inkscape | CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer |
Web browser | GNU IceCat (Mozilla Firefox ESR fork) | Chromium, Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer (included) |
Windows Mobile
Type | Free program | Replacement for |
---|---|---|
3D computer graphics software | Blender | |
Anonymous P2P | GNUnet | |
BitTorrent client | Tribler, qBittorrent | |
Compiler | Mingw-w64 | |
Desktop publishing | Scribus | |
Diagramming software | Dia | |
Document viewer | Evince | |
Email client, news client, feed reader | Mozilla Thunderbird | |
VoIP, telephony, softphone, SIP | GNU Ring, Linphone | |
Instant messaging client | Pidgin | Facebook Messenger, ICQ |
Live USB | ||
Media player | VLC media player (VLC) | Windows Media Player Mobile |
Office suite | LibreOffice (OpenOffice.org fork) | |
Online storage | ownCloud (client only) | |
Raster graphics editor | GIMP | |
Text editor | Vim | |
Vector graphics editor | Inkscape | |
Web browser | GNU IceCat (Mozilla Firefox ESR fork) |
Multi view (outdated, archived as example only)
Replacement for / Available | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free program | GNU/Linux | GNU/Hurd | BSD | Replicant | macOS | iOS | Windows | Windows Mobile | Type |
Blender | Autodesk Maya ("Maya") | Autodesk Maya ("Maya") |
|
3D computer graphics software | |||||
Dia | Yes | Yes | Microsoft Visio | Diagramming software | |||||
Evince | Adobe Reader | Adobe Reader |
|
Document viewer | |||||
GIMP | Yes | Yes | Adobe Photoshop |
|
Raster graphics editor | ||||
GNU IceCat (Mozilla Firefox ESR fork) |
|
|
|
|
|
Web browser | |||
GNUnet | Yes | Yes | Yes | DC++ | Anonymous P2P | ||||
Inkscape | Yes | Yes | Adobe Illustrator |
|
Vector graphics editor | ||||
Iridium (Chromium fork) |
|
|
|
|
|
Web browser | |||
LibreOffice | Yes | Yes | Microsoft Office | Microsoft Office | Office suite | ||||
MinGW | Yes | Microsoft Visual C++ | Compiler | ||||||
ownCloud (client only) | Dropbox | Dropbox | Dropbox | Dropbox |
|
Online storage | |||
Pidgin |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Instant messaging client | |
qBittorrent | Yes | Yes | BitTorrent | BitTorrent | BitTorrent client | ||||
QupZilla |
|
|
|
|
|
Web browser | |||
Scribus | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
|
Desktop publishing | |||
Signal | Yes | Yes | Apple iMessage | Apple iMessage | Yes | Encrypted voice calling, video calling and instant messaging | |||
Mozilla Thunderbird | Yes | Apple Mail (included) |
|
Email client, news client, feed reader | |||||
Tribler | Yes | Yes | BitTorrent | BitTorrent | BitTorrent client | ||||
UNetbootin | Yes | Apple Disk Utility |
|
Live USB | |||||
Vim | Yes | Yes | Yes | Notes | Notes | Text editor | |||
VLC media player (VLC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Yes | Media player |
Log
- Synced https://www.gnu.org/software/for-windows.html
- Moved 'UNetbootin' from 'Free program' to 'Replacement for' (endorses nonfree GNU/Linux distros). Didn't add FUSBi (abandonware) to 'Free program'
- Moved 'Signal' from 'Free program' to 'Replacement for'. Added Skype to 'Replacement for'. Added 'GNU Ring' and 'Linphone' to 'Free program'.
- Replaced MinGW with Mingw-w64. Could not find 'mingw' at https://www.parabola.nu/packages/?sort=&q=mingw&maintainer=&flagged=, https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=mingw&searchon=names&suite=stable§ion=all, https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=mingw&searchon=names&suite=xenial§ion=all
- Removed Iridium -- https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libreplanet-discuss/2017-01/msg00009.html, https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libreplanet-discuss/2017-01/msg00056.html
- Removed Qupzilla -- https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/directory-discuss/2017-12/msg00011.html, https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/directory-discuss/2017-11/msg00005.html, and https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/directory-discuss/2017-11/msg00015.html
- Replaced 'Windows USB/DVD Download Tool, WinToFlash, Windows USB Installer Maker' with Windows To Go
- Replaced 'Claws Mail' with 'Mozilla Thunderbird' -- GNU IceCat is a fork of Mozilla Firefox ESR, some add-ons run on both Firefox (and IceCat) and Thunderbird. Thunderbird is much much popular than Claws Mail.
- Replaced "MSN" (Windows Live Messenger, discontinued) with "Facebook Messenger"
- Added "Apple Mail"
- Removed "Adobe FreeHand" (Adobe Illustrator is already in the list) -- Since 2003 FreeHand development has been discontinued; in the Adobe Systems catalog, FreeHand has been replaced with Adobe Illustrator.
- Replaced "Napster" with DC++
- Removed AIM, discontinued (December 15, 2017)
- Replaced "Outlook Express" with "Microsoft Mail"
- Removed "PageMaker", discontinued
- Removed Google Drive, a service not a software
- Cosmetic
- Made the categories more unique
- Replaced "Blender3D" with "Blender" (see menu bar Blender -> About).
- Replaced "VideoLan Client" with "VLC media player" (see menu bar VLC -> About).
- Replaced "Paint Shop Pro" with "PaintShop Pro".
- Replaced "Xara Xtreme" with "Xara Photo & Graphic Designer" -- The Windows version was previously sold under the names Xara Studio, Xara X and Xara Xtreme
- Replaced "Yahoo" with "Yahoo! Messenger"
- Replaced "ICQ chat clients" with "ICQ"
- Replaced "Maya" with "Autodesk Maya ("Maya")"
- Replaced "3DSMax" (formerly 3D Studio and 3D Studio Max) with "Autodesk 3ds Max"
- Replaced "InDesign" with "Adobe InDesign"
- Replaced "Reader (Windows 8)" with "Microsoft Reader"
- Synced https://www.gnu.org/software/for-ios.html and
- Replaced VimTouch (abandonware, and removed from F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/net.momodalo.app.vimtouch -> https://f-droid.org/packages/net.momodalo.app.vimtouch/) with Markor
- Removed LibreSignal (abandonware) - https://github.com/LibreSignal/LibreSignal/blob/master/README.md
See also
External links
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The copyright and license notices on this page only apply to the text on this page. Any software or copyright-licenses or other similar notices described in this text has its own copyright notice and license, which can usually be found in the distribution or license text itself.