Some Windows applications' alternatives.

When it comes to desktops and laptops, Windows operating system is still the most common operating system in the world. With technologies evolving every moment, windows applications have evolved as well, bringing in new features more often than not. However, we all can agree that with better applications come increased pricing. Well, some applications can be paid for, but there exists a plethora of applications which do not need to be paid, at least for basic use. I mean, why would you pay for something like a basic notepad like application, or a calculator, when they are the most basic application a computer should contain. Of Course, you pay for these applications, but you do so when you buy the computer itself. Furthermore, with requirements in the current world, some of these applications do not need to be paid anymore.
Let's say, if you are a basic user or a student. Then just tell me why just to complete your homework you would pay for Microsoft Office? That doesn't make sense, right? What if you need Adobe Photoshop or a video editor for something basic like a school project, or a cultural festival, event, etc. In order to get full access of these applications, you need to pay the full price, or resort to cracked versions, which might have very high chance of infecting your computer with a virus, malware or even ransomwares.
What shall you do then? Well, if you don't want to use any organization level polished application, let me say this, 'There are a lot of free alternatives, yes, totally free.' What's more, these applications are often updated by the developers to maintain security or add new features, etc.
So, let us look at 10 such alternatives:

1. Microsoft Office -> LibreOffice

LibreOffice is the basic office installed in Linux distros such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint. The application is a bit different than Microsoft Office, so it needs some understanding before use.



2. Microsoft Office -> Apache OpenOffice

Another office alternative comes in Apache OpenOffice. Structurally very different from both Microsoft Office and LibreOffice, this application is not the best polished, but it is still very usable.

3. Microsoft Office ->Softmaker FreeOffice

A very limited yet closest to Microsoft Office inteface, SoftMaker FreeOffice is a free tier application from SoftMaker. They also have a wide variety of paid options which you can look up in their own website.

4. Microsoft Office -> Office 365 Online

Microsoft Office 365 provides free office features with great cloud support. Even though it is significantly less featured than Microsoft Office desktop application, it is very useful for students, and even professionals. It also helps keep your document synced to your cloud storage, which enables you to continue your work on the go in any device of your choice.

5. Microsoft Office -> Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc.

Google's alternatives to Microsoft Office 365.


6. Adobe Photoshop -> GIMP

The name is very misleading, but the application is decent. Well, photoshop is clear when it comes to industry level photo editing, but GIMP also provides some decent level photo editing tools, which I believe is perfect for a basic user like a student.


7. Paid video editing tools -> KDENLive

Well, another video editing tool, with some degree of learning curve. It is a good tool, that's all I can say. I didn't use it much myself, but I can confirm, it will help you edit your videos, and it is free.
Link to download: https://kdenlive.org/en/

8. WinRAR -> PeaZip

PeaZip might be a better alternative for WinRAR. It does almost everything a compressing and extraction does, but in having few more features like creating new 'smart' folder, which creates folder while decompressing wherever necessary.



9. CCleaner -> Bleachbit

I don't know why I'm suggesting this, but if you want to retrieve some space from you HDD or SSD, you can delete unwanted and/or temporary files. Both CCleaner and Bleachbit provide the functionalities to do so. CCleaner, nowadays, is much more useful in many ways, such as uninstalling hidden applications, or check driver requirements, but if your main requirement is to make some space in your storage by deleting some unwanted files, you can stop using CCleaner and use Bleachbit instead.


One thing to note, this article is written while keeping the Windows users in mind. If you use any Linux distro, you can download these applications as well, but most of these applications are either already installed or available to you via your distro stores (At least the popular ones). and if you use Mac, well you have the money to buy premium applications I believe.

That's all for now, if I learn about any new applications, I will link them here.

Thank you and peace out!

 

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