Windows / Linux Application Table

Key:  Green = Open Source and/or Free Software

Office Suite

Microsoft Office
WordPerfect Office
OpenOffice.org
StarOffice

OpenOffice.org
StarOffice

• OpenOffice.org can read and write Microsoft Office 95/97/2000/2003 and StarOffice format files.
• StarOffice can read and write Microsoft Office 95/97/2000/2003 and OpenOffice.org format files.
• OpenOffice.org and StarOffice are available for MS Windows, Linux, and other leading operating systems.

Web Browser

Internet Explorer
Firefox
Opera

Firefox
Opera

Konqueror

• The Firefox browser is available for Windows, Linux, and other leading operating systems.
• The Opera browser is available for Windows, Linux, and other leading operating systems.
• Konqueror is the default file manager and web browser on Linux systems using the KDE interface.

E-mail

Outlook Express
Eudora
Thunderbird

Thunderbird
Evolution
Kmail

• Thunderbird is available for Windows, Linux, and other leading operating systems.
• Eudora is available for Windows and Macintosh operating systems.

E-mail + Calendaring + PIM

Outlook

Evolution

• Evolution can connect to Microsoft Exchange e-mail servers using Ximian Connector.

PDF creation

Adobe Acrobat
OpenOffice.org
PDFCreator
Go2PDF

OpenOffice.org
CUPS

• OpenOffice.org has export-to-PDF capability built in.
• CUPS, the Common Unix Printing System, has built-in PDF output. This gives most Linux GUI applications print-to-PDF capability.

Graphics (Pictures)

Photoshop
Paint Shop Pro
The GIMP

The GIMP

• The GIMP is available for Windows, Linux, and other leading operating systems.

Graphics (Vector)

CorelDRAW
Adobe Illustrator
Deneba Canvas
Sodipodi
Inkscape

Sodipodi
Karbon14
Inkscape

• Sodipodi is a vector drawing program that uses Scalable Vector Graphics as its native format, making it particularly suitable for web graphics development.
• Karbon14 is a vector drawing application for KDE.
• Inkscape is an open source drawing tool with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, and CorelDraw.

Graphics (Template)

Visio

Dia
Kivio

• Kivio is part of the KOffice suite

Desktop Publishing

Microsoft Publisher
OpenOffice.org Draw

Scribus
OpenOffice.org Draw

• Scribus brings professional Desktop Publishing to Linux desktops.
  
• OpenOffice.org Draw provides easy-to-use text and graphics layout suitable for posters, fliers, etc.
  

CAD

AutoCAD
IntelliCAD
SoftCAD
VariCAD
QCad
CAM Expert

VariCAD
QCad
CAM Expert

• QCad is 2-Dimensional only.
• For QCad and Cam Expert, see here.

Instant Messaging

AIM
ICQ

Gaim

• Gaim communicates with both AIM and ICQ.

Thin Client Computing

Windows Terminal Server
Citrix

• LTSP (the Linux Terminal Server Project) enables inexpensive new and older systems to be used as user workstations connected to a central server.  Besides the lower initial cost, Total Cost of Ownership is minimized by maintaining a single central system. 
• With Linux, LTSP, and Open Source applications, licensing costs are minimized or eliminated since there is no per-seat software cost.
• rdesktop communicates with a server running Windows NT/2000 Terminal Server to display a Microsoft Windows session on Linux (and other Unix-like) workstations.