The programs that I tend to showcase in my Linux Programs with Windows Versions posts are considered open source software. What this means is that the source code of the software is freely available for users to access, redistribute, and modify as they see fit. It also means that these programs are freely available for anyone to download and use.

There are many open source programs available and a comprehensive list of all of them would be nearly impossible to create. However, I have found a couple of fairly good lists that will demonstrate how, even on a Windows computer, you could easily survive using only open source software.

As I have mentioned before, another benefit to using open source software is that almost all open source programs are available for both Windows and Linux so if you use these programs and you ever decide to switch to Linux, you will be able to continue using the programs that you already know and are familiar and comfortable with.

There are two different lists that I have found that I am going to link to in this post. The first one is a site called Open Source Windows. This site has a two page list of many popular open source programs. Some of these programs have already been featured on this site and some of them I have no experience with. There are also a few that I have used but not featured here. The list also gives a little bit of information about each program and organizes them by what they do and are designed to be used for.

The second site I would like to point out is OpenDisc. This is a site that revolves around a CD that you can download that will contain the installers for numerous open source programs. Looking at the list of programs included on the latest version of this disk shows that they are also broken down by category.

There are several programs that are on both lists, but there are also many that are only on one or the other. I would suggest taking a quick look at both lists and then next time you want a program to do a specific task, you may remember seeing something that fits your needs from one of these lists.

If you know of any other programs or lists, feel free to add them in the comments. Let’s make this a post where people can come to find programs to do absolutely anything that they want :D