This is a list of applications I like on Windows (both freeware and commercial) and some Open Source Windows and Posix (Linux, FreeBSD, Cygwin) equivalents. The idea is to eventually use as many cross-platform, open source applications as possible. This allows for easier bug fixing if a problem is encountered. Also, this allows easier switching between operating systems and easier migration towards more Open Source operating system platforms. The list is skewed by my particular preferences as to which applications I find useful or easier to work with. It does not include all applications in a particular category. Where possible, I've tried to list programs that were cross-platform portable and/or worked well on low resource machines.
| Application (not Open Source) (usually Windows) |
Open Source (Windows) |
Open Source (Posix) |
| Word Processor WordPerfect (Windows, DOS and Linux), Word (DOS freeware) |
Lyx, Abiword (Portable Apps version available), Openoffice (Portable Apps version available), Scribus | Lyx, Abiword, Openoffice, Siag Office, Scribus |
| Programmer's Editor PFE, edwin, PEDIT |
SciTE, Cream, Nano, Notepad++ | SciTE, Cream, Nano |
| Writers' Tools Gunning-Fogfinder, Grammatick (with WordPerfect) |
StarDict, sdcv, wc, diction, style | sdcv (command line version of StarDict), StarDict, wc, diction, style |
| Window Manager | blackbox, dwm | fluxbox, openbox, dwm, mwm |
| File Manager | midnight commander, ? | midnight commander, bash commander, vifm, worker, xfe, mfm 0.4 |
| Calendar
calendar magic, calendar (program with older versions of Windows), |
OpenWatcom calendar sample, fltdj (build with mingw), lcal and pcal (build with mingw or djgpp), calcurse | cal (command line), fltdj, lcal and pcal, calcurse |
| To Do Lists | hyperlist | hyperlist |
| Shells/Scripting command.com |
bash, v8cgi | bash, v8cgi |
| GUIs for Shell Scripts |
dialog, zenity | dialog, xdialog, zenity |
| Utilities - file viewing more |
less | less, lesspipe |
| Utilities - file find
dir /s (FreeDOS offers some of the standard DOS commands as Open Source, but I'd like to find some other user-friendly programs too.) |
searchmonkey (build with mingw), ? | searchmonkey, find, locate, ? |
| Utilities - directory comparison
dirmatch or wmatch |
dir with diffh, midnight commander?, ? | ls with diffh, bash commander, midnight commander?, vifm?, ? |
| Utilities - grep with directory search grep (freeware included with Borland C++ command line compiler) |
grep20_d_win (grep 2.0d with directory search), searchmonkey (build with mingw) | grep -r, searchmonkey |
| Utilities - hex editor kzap |
frhed | ? |
| Utilities - directory deletion
deltree |
deltree (from FreeDOS), rm -r (from mingw project's msys) | rm -r |
| Search and Replace |
gsar | gsar |
| Macro Key Playback |
autohotkey | xdotool |
| File splitter HJ-Split (Windows and Linux) |
? | lxsplit |
| Compression | zip (Infozip), unzip (Infozip), bzip2, 7zip, p7zip, gzip, lzma | zip (Infozip), unzip (Infozip), bzip2, p7zip (7zip command line version), gzip, lzma |
| File comparison fc, examdiff |
diffh (build with mingw), fldiff (build with mingw), fc (from FreeDOS), diff, pardiff (build with mingw), winmerge, zdelta, TDiff (TextDiff) | diffh, fldiff, diff, pardiff, zdelta |
| Source control Visual Sourcesafe |
rcs | rcs |
| C/C++ Compilers Borland command line, Microsoft Visual Express (last time I tried it, Visual Express was buggy) |
mingw, OpenWatcom, djgpp (for DOS 32 bit) | gnu C/C++ compilers, OpenWatcom |
| Web site downloader | httrack, wget | httrack, wget |
| File downloader Star Downloader |
Free Download Manager, aria2, ? | aria2, prozilla (prozgui - fltk front end, see build fixes at fltk wiki) |
| Ftp ws_ftp le |
Filezilla (Portable Apps version available) | ftp, Filezilla |
| E-mail Foxmail |
Alpine, Sylpheed, Thunderbird (Portable Apps version available) | Alpine, Sylpheed, Thunderbird |
| Newsgroups Xnews |
tin (cygwin older version), Alpine, Sylpheed, InfoRss (Firefox add-on), XanaNews | tin, Alpine, Sylpheed, InfoRss (Firefox add-on) |
| RSS (RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 compatible) IE 7 |
Sage (Firefox add-on), InfoRss (Firefox add-on) | Sage (Firefox add-on), nrss, InfoRss (Firefox add-on) |
| Instant Messaging Trillian |
Miranda IM (Portable Apps version available), ayttm, xchat | naim, ayttm, xchat, irc it (ii), sic |
| Browsers Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera |
Firefox (Portable Apps version available), doslynx, links, Chrome?, Songbird? | Firefox, lynx, links, dillo, Chrome? |
| Web Server | Apache | Apache |
| XSLT | XMLStar (aka XMLStarlet) | XMLStar (aka XMLStarlet) |
| XQuery | ? | ? |
| Music (Karaoke kar files) Van Basco, WinKaraoke, Go Sing |
Timidity++ (from cvs) | Timidity++ (from cvs) |
| Music (midi files) Noteworthy Player, XMPlay, Synthfont |
Timidity++, Jazz++, Media Player Classic | Timidity++, Jazz++ (if you can find a working version) |
| Music (midi sequencer) Digital Orchestrator |
? | ? |
| Music (wave) XMPlay |
Audacity, Media Player Classic, VLC, sox, mplayer | Audacity, VLC, flxine, sox, xmms, mplayer |
| Music (mod files) soundtracker 2.0 (DOS), XMPlay |
MilkyTracker, modplug, Media Player Classic, Timidity++ | MilkyTracker, Timidity++, modplugplay, xmp, xmms (with modplugxmms), mikmod |
| Music (abc) (Converts abc to and from midi, abc to postscript) |
abc2midi, midi2abc, abcm2ps | abc2midi, midi2abc, abcm2ps |
| Music (Converts midi to and from text) |
t2mf, mf2t, midicomp | t2mf, mf2t, midicomp |
| Music (Soundfont editor) Viena (freeware, not the same as Vienna) |
pysf-2, swami | pysf-2, swami |
| Audio (simultaneous multitrack playback and recording) Quartz AudioMaster Freeware |
Audacity (if you have a fast enough processor and an audio card that can handle it) | Audacity (if you have a fast enough processor and an audio card that can handle it) |
| Audio - Recorder |
Audacity, sox, GramoFile | Audacity, sox, GramoFile, flrec, snd |
| Audio - Editor tiny wave editor (twe), acoustic |
Audacity | Audacity (GTK and WXWidgets), snd (X Windows GUI), ecasound (command line), mhwaveedit, sweep, xwave, ecawave |
| Audio - Converter (format conversion) |
sox, audacity, timidity++ | sox, audacity, timidity++ |
| Audio - Converter (Converts ac3 to wav) BeSweet (and BeSweetGUI or BeLight) |
a52dec (from liba52) | a52dec (from liba52) |
| Audio - Converter (Converts wav to ac3) (Note: Some Open Source conversion programs have sound volume issues and are not recommended.) |
aften (GUI front ends EncWAVtoAC3 or AftenGUI) | aften |
| Audio - Compression
(Lossless) |
flac | flac |
| Audio - Filters | normalize, GramoFile | normalize, GramoFile |
| Audio Server (Feeds output of one audio program to input of another.) (Note: Good audio cards do this for you.) |
jackdmp | jackdmp, jack |
| CD Wave ripper Plextor Tools, PlexTools Professional, Windows Media Player, Exact Audio Copy (only works with some writers) |
cdex (only works with some writers), cd-da x-tractor (only works with some writers), cdparanoia (command line), cdda2wav (command line, from cdrtools) | cdparanoia (command line), cdda2wav (command line, from cdrtools), asunder, xcdroast (GUI for cdda2wav) |
| CD Music (wave) writer Plextor Tools, PlexTools Professional, Windows Media Player, Imgburn |
cdrecord (only works with some writers), InfraRecorder (GUI for cdrecord, Portable Apps version available), cdrtfe (GUI for cdrecord), ableburn (GUI for cdrecord) | xcdroast (GUI for cdrecord), k3b (Gnome GUI for dvd+rw-tools) |
| Audio CD bin file audio player cdmage |
? | ? |
| CD to ISO image PlexTools Professional, cd2iso, CD DVD to ISO, ISORecorder |
readcd (from cdrtools) | readcd (from cdrtools) |
| ISO image to CD PlexTools Professional, DVD Decrypter, cdburn (Microsoft rktools), Imgburn, ISORecorder |
? | ? |
| Files (VOB) to ISO image |
mkisofs (command line) | mkisofs (command line) |
| DVD Ripping (to MPEG) DVD Decrypter |
vstrip (only works with some writers), ProjectX (only works with some writers), DGMPGDec (VOB file to MPEG) | vstrip (command line version), ProjectX (Java based, only works with some writers) |
| Demultiplex MPEG files |
DGMPGDec (improvement over mpeg2dec which may lose frames), mpgtx, avidemux? | mpgtx, avidemux?, ? |
| Multiplex MPEG files |
mplex (command line) [example: mplex -f 8 -S 0 -O -66ms -o %1.mpg %2.m1v %2.ac3] | mplex (command line) |
| MPEG 1 Cutter Cuttermaran (Needs Microsoft .Net 1.1) |
? | gopchop? |
| MPEG 2 Cutter |
MPEG2Schnitt, avidemux?, ProjectX? | gobchop, avidemux?, ProjectX? |
| Fix audio delays for MPEG |
MPEG2Schnitt, mplex, ProjectX (only works with some writers) | mplex, ProjectX (only works with some writers) |
| DVD-R Authoring
GUI for dvdauthor (freeware but not open source) |
DVDStyler, DVDAuthorGUI, ? | DVDStyler (1.4 uses netpbm, later versions use SVG), ? |
| CD/DVD ISO Access Daemon Tools 3.47, Microsoft WinXP Virtual CD Control Panel |
? | (mount ISO file with loopback) [example: mount -o loop -t iso9660 filename.iso /mnt/cdrom] |
| DVD ISO File Playback | vlc | vlc, (mount ISO file with loopback and use any DVD player) |
| DVD Player WinDVD |
vlc, mplayer, Media Player Classic, xine (only with some video cards) | vlc, mplayer, xine (flxine, toxine - fltk and curses front ends), ogle (goggles - Fox front end) |
| DVD ISO Writer PlexTools Professional, dvdburn (Microsoft rktools), Imgburn |
? | cdrecord?, dvd+rw-tools? |
| Video - Converter
(Converts MPEG to AVI) |
virtualdubmod, mencoder, avidemux?, ? | mencoder, avidemux?, ? |
| Video - Converter
(Converts AVI to MPEG) |
quenc (needs Avisynth or other program to run), mencoder, avidemux? | mencoder, avidemux?, ? |
| Transcode utility | rejig | transcode? |
| AVI Editor (with ability to add or mute sound) Windows Movie Maker |
virtualdubmod, avidemux, (anything easier to work with?) | avidemux, (anything easier to work with?) |
| DVD MPEG/ISO Shrinker DVD Rebuilder |
vamps? (see build fixes at sourceforge site under vamps project, forums page, Open Discussion) | vamps? |
| DVD VOB Blanker |
VobBlanker | ? |
| Video - Filters | Avisynth, Avidemux | Avidemux |
| Video - Other Tools | mjpeg tools, ffmpeg, cdrtools, dvd-author (in DVDStyler package and used by other authoring GUIs), pgcedit | mjpeg tools, ffmpeg, cdrtools, dvd-author (used by DVDStyler and other authoring GUIs), pgcedit, vobcopy |
| Graphics Editor Photoshop Elements (commercial, sometimes free), Picassa2, 2 Pic, HTML Help Image Editor |
mtpaint, flphoto (see build fixes at fltk wiki), Imagemagick, Graphicsmagick, Gimp (GimpShop and Portable Apps versions available), CinePaint, I.mage, netpbm | mtpaint, nathive, flphoto, Imagemagick, Graphicsmagick, Gimp, CinePaint, viewnior, I.mage, netpbm |
| Vector Graphics Editor
SketchUp |
sodipodi, inkscape, OpenOffice Draw, winfig | figurine, sodipodi, inkscape, OpenOffice Draw |
| Icon/Cursor Graphics Editor | OpenWatcom Image Editor | ? |
| Graphics Viewer (Loads a graphic quickly) Wang Imaging, Paint, HTML Help Image Editor, XnView (Windows and Linux), FastStone MaxView, IrfanView, Picassa2 |
I.mage, picaxo, gqview-win | zgv, picaxo (needs SDL), feh (needs imlib2), gpicview, geeqie/GQview, viewnior, gtksee, xzgv, xfi, I.mage |
| Graphics Animation Microsoft Gif Animator, Unfreez |
mtpaint, gifsicle | mtpaint, gifsicle |
| Graphics - Other |
icobundle, giftrans | icobundle, giftrans |
| Graphics - Graphs |
GLE (graphics language editor produces charts) | GLE (graphics language editor produces charts) |
| Graphics - Converter Pictview |
Imagemagick, Graphicsmagick, netpbm, ? | Imagemagick, Graphicsmagick, netpbm, ? |
| Cad Autocad (commercial), ProgeCAD LT 2006 |
BRL-CAD, Archimedes, Qcad Community Edition, jwcad, ? | BRL-CAD, Archimedes, Qcad Community Edition, ? |
| Font Creation Tool | Fontforge | Fontforge |
| Postscript | Ghostscript | Ghostscript |
| Postscript - Converter | a2ps, enscript, wkhtmltopdf, html2ps | a2ps, enscript, wkhtmltopdf, html2ps |
| PDF - Viewer
Foxit (portable version available) |
Ghostscript, Evince, Sumatra (Portable Apps version available), xpdf | Ghostscript (and gv), xpdf, Evince |
| PDF - Converter | Ghostscript, OpenOffice, PDF Creator, SciTE | Ghostscript, OpenOffice, SciTE |
| PDF - Other | PDFTK | PDFTK |
| Screen Capture HTML Help Image Editor or Printkey |
import (from ImageMagick), shutterbug (Fox GUI), mtpaint, OpenWatcom Image Editor (limited ability), ? | import (from ImageMagick), shutterbug (Fox GUI), scrot (needs imlib2), mtpaint |
| Video Screen Capture Wink (Windows and Linux) |
CamStudio 2.0 or 2.5, imagemagick and script | xvidcap, record my desktop?, imagemagick and script |
| Firewall Kerio 2.1.5 (my favorite), SPF, Comodo, PC Tools, (Built into Windows Vista), core force? |
openfirewall?, ? | ? |
| Virus scanner Kaspersky (DOS), F-prot (DOS), Avira AntiVir, BitDefender (Windows and Linux), AVG, Avast! |
Clamwin (Portable Apps version available), ? | ClamAV, ? |
| Spyware scanner Spybot - Search and Destroy |
? | ? |
| Emulators | Dosbox, Mess | Dosbox (needs SDL), Mess |
| Ergonomics Breaktime |
prevrsi, workrave | xwrits, workrave |
To an article on building some of these applications and patches that may be needed.
To an article on lightweight and cross-platform Open Source programs.
To an article about creating Music on your PC.
To an article about Video on your PC.
To a list with more Writing Tools suggestions.
To a list with more Internet and Web Development Resources.
To an article with tips on customizing the SciTE programming editor.
If the table has a ? next to a program, it's because I'm not sure the application fits the bill. The ? (not by a specific program), indicates that I'm still looking for software solutions for that category.
Along with the missing functionality above, I'm also still looking for the following:
If you know of any Open Source programs that fill in the blanks, please contact me through one of my mailing lists or directly through e-mail.
As I was compiling and building some of the programs mentioned above, it struck me that there were plenty of Open Source archives to share project source code. However, the same wasn't true for sharing executables. In some cases, you can contact the project and send them an executable if it's not currently available, but often, a project is no longer supported or may not be interested in your particular platform. If anyone knows of a place to share Open Source executable programs for specific platforms (along with the source and any patches needed to build, of course), please let me know. I don't think average users like building their own programs, even if it is for the purpose of trying out something new and useful. It would be very nice if people had a place to share some builds of programs if there is no official build for a platform. It would certainly save people time if each person did not have to build from scratch or try to work-around operating system specific deficiencies. If you have any ideas on how to better share executables along with their source, please let me know. It would also be nice to have a place for programmers to share cross-platform build scripts and the work involved to create and update them.