1 Abhijit Nadgouda says...

I use a lot of open source software whenever I use Windows. I have listed the different softwares I use, and a lot of them are open source.

Posted at 5:26 p.m. on March 30, 2007

2 Matt says...

Hi, I use as much OSS on my corporate windows box as possible - you mentioned many of them. VLC, Openoffice, Python shell, GIMP (though it crashes on my box), Putty.

However, I also use -> Avidemux for editing video, the mplayer port for media, Dia (Visio-esque), 7zip, GAIM, WinDirStat, Firefox/Thunderbird, ImageMagick, Wireshark, and NVU...just to name a few.

Cheers, M.

Posted at 7:07 p.m. on March 30, 2007

3 John LeMasney says...

I'm using Windows as my main OS, but I'm moving to a free desktop as soon as some key applications become just as usable on the Open Source side. Right now, the remaining apps I have to use on the windows side that would be hard to use under Wine, etc, are things like Oracle Calendar, Macrodobe Dreamweaver, Macrodobe Premiere, and Picasa. However, I'm at the point now where I'm ready to jump ship on Windows. I've already decided not to move to Vista, if I can help it. However, while I'm still using Windows, I've gained quite a list of open source apps I use all the time. GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus, Filezilla, Audacity, gVim, VLC, VNC, OpenOffice.org, NVu, Dia, CamStudio, XAMPP, Media Player Classic with Real alternative and QT Alternative, Songbird, Democracy Player, and on and on. If you absolutely have to use Windows, you can definitely do it with an open source toolset. Great post.

Posted at 7:13 p.m. on March 30, 2007

4 JiGGaK says...

Unfortunately all companies I've worked for have a policy against using anything but Windows. That said I use a lot of software ported from Linux. I'm not sure how I would get along without them.

eg: GIMP, Gaim, GCC toolchain (under cygwin), gvim, Dia, Apache, Subversion and of course Firefox.

The company I work for right now could only afford one license for Photoshop so everyone shares this one dudes system for image editing (we are a wireless software development shop). This is annoying to say the least so GIMP on Windows is not only a nicety but a rather a necessity. I read a Slashdot article earlier this week citing an article that suggest the most significant hurtle for promoting Linux as a viable replacement for Windows is getting users comfortable with alternates to the applications they use on Windows. I think that is spot on.

The only thing that really holds be to Windows (besides the policy) is Outlook. I don't use it because I like it, but rather because the company does and therefore I have to. I haven't done any research in this area... are there any Linux apps that play nice with an Exchange server?

In regards to authors question "I wonder how many people have this kind of setup? Free/Open Source software on Windows?" I guess the best response would be anyone who prefers using a *nix environment but has to use Windows for some reason likely uses some sort of setup similar to this.

Posted at 12:14 a.m. on March 31, 2007

5 Zeth says...

Thanks for the comments guys, one quick comment before I go to bed, Evolution understands Exchange really well, especially for more normal setups.

There can be problems with highly complicated setups, for example, if you want more than one exchange account in front of you at the same time and you want to drag email or calendar events between them. As far as I know this one thing is not possible (though you can have say, Exchange and IMAP accounts).

Posted at 12:50 a.m. on March 31, 2007

6 grimman says...

Yeah, I use alot of opensource software on Windows too... and a bunch of proprietary stuff, but NOTHING from Microsoft.

Posted at 2:38 a.m. on April 2, 2007

7 Justin says...

KDE 4.0 is supposed to be able to run on windows so when that comes out you will even be apple to replace the desktop environment with open source software. when I used windows as my main os in the past just about everything I used was floss.

Posted at 3:15 a.m. on April 2, 2007

8 js says...

I'm a Linux admin stuck with a Windows workstation at a customer site . . . A couple tools I use that I don't see listed much elsewhere are the SSH client Poderosa and the desktop pager Virtuawin.

I hate Putty with a passion, and have been looking and looking for a better terminal emulator for Windows. Until KDE ports konsole to Windows (any day now, right....) I prefer Poderosa to Putty because you can have multible tabs in one window, allows you to easily change the screen colors, and allows "windows-style" text cut and paste (but also has xterm-style cut and paste if you prefer that).

Sounds like it's big in Japan, but not too well-known elsewhere. I think if more people knew about it, Poderosa would dethrone Putty as the "standard" Windows ssh client.

Posted at 8:24 p.m. on April 5, 2007

9 Zeth says...

Hi js, thanks for the information, I have never heard of Poderosa either, but the screenshots look really good.

I know what you mean about the PuTTY Cut and Paste, that is one of those things that bites you when not paying attention. You highlight the text, then right click to press copy and and then accidentally paste a load of random text back into the terminal!

VirtuaWin looks really cool too. The lack of workspaces is the second thing I hate most about Windows' window manager, (my first is the lack of stay 'On Top' function).

Posted at 11:19 a.m. on April 6, 2007

10 schmid says...

I mostly use OSS on Windows, and spend a lot of time documenting what I find. I have a page summarizing my favourite Windows software. Check it out...

Posted at 2:58 p.m. on April 9, 2007

11 Justin says...

I'v never used this because I don't have a windows machine to try it on, but it looks like it would be nice for when you are forced to use a windows machine.

Posted at 4:03 p.m. on April 9, 2007

12 ted says...

Thunderbird (A-), Firefox (B+), OpenOffice (A+), GIMP2 (B+), 7ZIP (A) are stable staple open-source apps under Windows. As good as it is, Firefox still has some basic performance issues it needs to overcome. Gimp2 is great, but still lags Photoshop in features and ease-of-use.

I'm still looking for a tight, stable X/RDP remote solution to put Unix GUI Apps on my Windows desktop. I believe the key to dismantling the predatory Microsoft monopoly is to enable GUI-window access to networked *nix desktops & applications. This would enable incremental adoption of open-source applications without requiring Windows users (and I am one) to give up some ease-of-use strengths of Windows, as well as hardware support and de-facto standard capabilities which remain under Microsoft's control, like it or not.

Another variation on this theme: as virtual machines become more reliable and perform optimally, the prospect of encapsulating one or the other operating system on the same physical machine will provide yet another way to marginalize Microsoft proprietary (predatory) products and practices. (MPr4!)

Posted at 7:49 p.m. on April 13, 2007

13 Ian Monroe says...

Actually its just called GNU/Linux because GNU software is a dependency of Linux. Day to day most users will never come in contact with anything GNU. So the analogy doesn't quite hold. :)

But I do believe we are entering an era where the OS will start mattering less and less and less. Crossplatform and web apps will rule.

Posted at 9:59 p.m. on April 26, 2007

14 iwkse says...

You point a cute question, and right in these days I'm going to prepare a similar post on my blog. Free Software is named GNU/Linux and not Linux cause with just the kernel you do not do nothing, you'll need, also if minimal, a userspace which is GNU environment. So talking only about Linux do not make sense at all. It makes sense if you talk about Debian or Slackware or whatever distribution cause they both include customized GNU apps and the Linux Kernel.

Coming back to your question, I believe, and maybe I'm too right, that GNU/Win32 should not exists at all. It's really a totally nonsense. GPL philosophy is the antithesis of proprietary software one, so I wonder why a lot of GNU packages has a win32 port. It's still ethical to dirty hacks GPL software to make it run on a proprietary system? I think it isn't.

You write about win32 kernel...mm..I discover now about the existence of a kernel in windows:) Window's kernel isn't really a kernel but the idea that a retarded has about a kernel.

A kernel should serve applications, nothing more, instead to be the application(s) and GUI. I consider windows the worse OS in any directions, a little toy with a obscure strategy market which substantially fefraud users. In other fields it's comparable with McDonalds, Shell, Nike...all that bunch of good angels with a devil's soul.

To finish, I didn't understand your question: "Of course I did not install GCC, but then some GNU/Linux distributions come without it too." What do you want to say with that? GCC compiler on distribution based on binary is useless instead you're a developer or you decide by your own to compile applications...If you install gentoo you'll surely have it as you will have it with other distributions based on source.

Regards S.

Posted at 11:01 p.m. on July 10, 2007

15 Chris says...

I never used proprietary software (except to steal it, or a free version). The reason I switched to linux this year is because I wanted to use applications that were only out for linux. For years it was OpenOffice, the Gimp etc. on windows. Sourceforge was my best friend. I've been jumping with joy on a daily basis finding out that things I used to have to download are all built in -- wget, for example. I used to have to use polyDown. And they're all better and faster: Tunapie rocks Winamp. I only wish I could make SWF's, then I'd never use windows again.

Posted at 12:48 a.m. on July 30, 2007

16 Hoàng Đức Hiếu says...

The C library in GNU/Linux is GNU's, but on your setup it's still Windows'. All things in your userspace are dependant on Windows' C library (is it name win32?), so I don't think GNU/Windows is accurate.

Posted at 4:14 a.m. on October 14, 2007

17 Madd Hatter says...

I had to give up ubuntu due to a driver issue, but I couldn't go cold turkey. My entire windows os was ripped,hacked,maimed,twisted and tweaked I don't even have the Player or Explorer installed any longer. Don't tell my computer though, I tricked it into believing it's mom was a mac but his daddy was full blooded linux! I had used themes, icons and sounds there was noway anybody over my shoulder wouldn't think I was running Linux. I wrote a blog about Open Sourcing Windows. http://madderhatters.blogspot.com/ Freenode even has a OpenMicroSource IRC channel.

Posted at 10:24 a.m. on November 11, 2007