Hi, There are a lot of programs for Windows these days. Of course, with these programs, we can do everything. On the other hand, the most popular apps are paid and to use them you have to pay a license or subscription. Other programs are free and can be used without paying, either completely or in a limited way. Finally, there are the open-source programs, a growing alternative in popularity. These programs have an open-source code and are available to anyone. That is, any user can review the code and collaborate in the development of the program. You can even use parts of the code to create your own program (as long as it is free software). Also, its features are very similar to paid software-. Almost all major commercial programs have their open-source alternative. So, we will see the best open-source programs that are a must in Windows 10.
LibreOffice, the alternative to Microsoft Office
One of the first programs we installed on the computer is an office suite. That is a program package that includes a word processor, spreadsheets, and a slide viewer. Well, Microsoft Office is the most popular suite. However, it is an expensive option with features you may never use. That’s why I recommend LibreOffice instead. This is The Document Foundation’s office suite with word processing, spreadsheets, and a presentation viewer and editor. As you can see, it has all the necessary tools for free and open source. In addition, it is fully compatible with Microsoft Office and without having to pay anything.
GIMP and Krita are substitutes for Photoshop
Obviously Adobe Photoshop is the reference when drawing or editing photos. However, this program is very expensive and usually consumes quite a lot of resources in the system. Fortunately, there are a couple of free and open-source alternatives that we can use instead. First, we’ll talk about Gimp. This open-source, cross-platform image editor offers almost the same features as Photoshop. In addition, it is very light and the consumption of resources is very comfortable.
On the other hand, we have Krita which is a multiplatform freehand drawing software with many tools and brushes. Without a doubt, these are open-source programs that are a must in Windows 10.
Kdenlive and OpenShot are video editors to replace Adobe Premiere.
It is a general opinion that to edit the video you need a professional program like Adobe Premiere, Vegas, or Pinnacle. However, there are free and open-source alternatives that allow you to edit a video the way commercial programs do. But without having to pay for high user licenses. Kdenlive is one of the best video editors, free, open-source and very easy to use. In addition, it allows us to modify the video in its timeline as we want without complications.
Now, if you need a more complete tool, then OpenShot is for you. It’s a powerful and very simple video editor that has nothing to envy commercial programs
qBittorrent, an open-source alternative to uTorrent
uTorrent has long been the best torrent download client for PC. However, today it is a discouraging program due to its payment model and its large amount of advertising. Even worse, in the past, it even went so far as to install mining software without users’ permission. There are excellent alternatives to uTorrent that allow you to download files from the torrent network much faster. Besides being more efficient and consuming less RAM. One of these programs is qBitTorrent, full of functions and features that, in addition, consumes very few resources in the PC.
QCAD, for modeling without AutoCAD
Fortunately, there are free and open-source alternatives like QCAD that allow you to design well without having to pay. This free, multi-platform software provides the tools to create building plans, design interiors, prototype mechanical parts, and much more.
VSCodium, an alternative to Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a text editor and programming IDE designed by Microsoft. Its goal is to help users program in any language. Although this software is open source, Microsoft has included proprietary parts within the code and data collection functions. But if you want to use Microsoft Visual Studio without Microsoft components, then VSCodium is for you. This software uses the VSCode source code as a base and removes all Microsoft dependencies and libraries. As a result, it offers a fully open-source, privacy-oriented code editor.
Conclusion
We have finally seen the open-source programs that are a must on Windows 10. The list includes office suites, video editors, torrent managers, and more. We hope you can compare and use the software that best suits your needs. If you liked the post, please share it on your social networks. Before you go, please take a look at our post about Eclipse IDE 2020 on Windows 10/Server 2019. See you soon!
