Linux substitutes for "most wanted" Windows-only software

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Feb. 15, 2006

DesktopLinux.com has reported recently on Novell Inc.'s survey of the "most wanted" Windows/MacOS-only applications among Linux users. As a result of over 14,000 votes and comments that have been registered since the beginning of January, some useful suggestions about good Linux substitutes have come to the fore.

Adobe Photoshop, Autocad, and Macromedia Dreamweaver continue to run 1-2-3 in the balloting, according to the online survey currently in progress on Novell's CoolSolutions community website.

"All the feedback and participation has been great thus far. As the survey continues, I wanted to share some of the suggestions that people have made regarding the top-requested applications. They have been both impressive and helpful," CoolSolutions site editor Scott Morris said.

"The more people we can expose to the survey, the more the independent software vendors (ISVs) will listen," he added. "For right now, there appears to be an abundance of software available that we can use while we are waiting for our favorites to be ported to Linux. Take a look and see if you can't find something that fits your needs."

By a good margin, Adobe Photoshop is the one application that most people want ported to Linux, Morris said. Free and open-source software (FOSS) already available for Linux that have similar feature sets to Photoshop include:

Pixel Image Editor
The GIMP
Krita (Part of Koffice)
Photoshop also works with WINE

"So, if you're looking to get Photoshop ported to Linux, you might give these suggestions a try [in the meantime]," Morris said.

Many suggestions were listed as replacements for Autodesk AutoCAD, including:

VariCAD, which has a version specifically designed for SUSE Linux
LinuxCAD
arcad
Cycas
Synergy

"After checking these applications out a little, some of them look pretty slick. If you need a CAD app, check these out," Morris said.

Macromedia has a couple of applications on this Top 10 Most Requested list, Morris said. Two suggestions for what to use in place of a Linux version of Dreamweaver are:

Nvu
Windows Dreamweaver, via WINE

"There were a handful of great suggestions for iTunes (replacements)," Morris said. They include:

AmaroK
gtkpod
Syncpod
Yamipod

Fifth on the list is Macromedia Flash. "Surprisingly, there are actually a number of useful resources already working on Linux," Morris said. Those are:

SWF Tools
KToon
Blender3D (Available directly from YAST)
SoftImage|XSI

"There are quite a few people taking advantage of making their opinions known," Morris said. "Let's see how many people we can get to take this survey, so the ISVs will pay attention and start porting their products to Linux."

Novell's "most wanted" Windows/MacOS-only applications survey is located here. You can read the full CoolSolutions article here.

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Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Except where otherwise specified, the contents of this site are copyright © 1999-2008 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise is prohibited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.