Either because you got tired of your operating system or you ran out of support when using old systems, if you decided that it was a good idea to move to Linux and you do not have much experience with the subject, you may be somewhat lost when it comes to installing the applications that already you used or looking for a replacement for them .
The most important thing to keep in mind is that in some exceptional cases such as Microsoft Office and Adobe’s suite of creative apps, most of the very popular software has versions for Linux or at least one alternative that covers exactly the same needs, If not, your new favorite word must be “adaptation.”, so in this article we discover Top Essential Linux Apps
Life without Microsoft Office
If you can’t live without Microsoft Office, you basically have two simple options : go back to Windows or pay for something like Crossover to install it on Linux without expecting it to work optimally.
If you want complicated options, you could try installing Office using Wine , but if the constant repetition of the “garbage” grade is any clue, don’t expect the best results . And if you want regular options, use the online versions of Microsoft Office at Office.com .
If you are ready to accept life without Microsoft Office, then you have more options . You could use the LibreOffice that probably came already installed with your new distro, or you could try alternatives like:
- OnlyOffice : it looks a lot like Office, it’s free, open source, and you can install it on any distro that accepts DEB, RPM, or even Snap or Flatpak packages.
- WPS Office : it is Kingsoft’s free Office and it is also more like Microsoft’s Office, in addition it supports tabs and is completely free.
- FreeOffice : another free office that looks even more like Microsoft’s and enjoys great compatibility with its formats.
Multimedia playback
It is almost 100% certain that whatever distro you install, it already includes a music player and a video player by default. It is quite likely that you will find the lethal VLC that is available for every distro you can think of and it is undoubtedly one of the best options, if not the best, to play video , but also music if you are not very demanding with the interface .
If you are looking for a classic music player that supports everything and also integrates with various radios and Internet services, one of my favorites and recommended is Clementine .
If you are more into streaming music, Spotify luckily offers a native client for Linux that you can install from the software center of distros like Ubuntu, or from the command line, or from the Canonical Snaps package store for Ubuntu and many more distros.
If you use another service like Deezer, Tidal, or Amazon Music, you have to settle for the web version of those players .
If you want a powerful Multimedia Center with support for countless plugins that allow you to integrate everything from live television to radio and your little content library, you have to try Kodi .
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Multimedia editing
If you want to use Adobe software on Linux the best thing you can do is go back to Windows, any other option to try to make them work on a distro is simply disastrous.
If you can live with alternative software, you have a lot to try:
- GIMP – It’s available from any popular distros software center you can think of, and they also have a flatpack package which is currently the easiest option to get the latest version.
- PhotoGIMP – It’s basically a modified version of GIMP to make it look more like Photoshop. It is a good option if you are familiar with the Adobe program and want to suffer a shorter learning curve.
- Krita : If yours is digital art and you are looking for illustration and image editing software, this is one of the best options.
- InkScape : if what you need is a professional vector graphics editor.
- Blender : if you want a powerful 3D creation suite that supports video and animation editing.
- DaVinci Resolve : if you are looking for a professional video editor with all kinds of options for audio post-production and visual effects.
- OBS Studio : if you need software to record and transmit live video.
- Darktable : if you want a high-quality photographic development program.
- Audacity : if you are looking for an easy-to-use audio recorder and editor.
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Miscellaneous tools
- Boostnote : if you want a minimalist text editor and notes app, with MarkDown support and which at the same time is a complete editor for developers with syntax highlighting for more than 100 programming languages.
- Standard Notes : if you want a free notes application with rich text that also offers encryption.
- qBittorrent : if you are looking for a P2P download manager.
- F.lux : if you are looking for a tool to control the brightness and warmth of the light emitted by your monitor.
- Mailspring : if you are looking for a native email client.
- Caliber : if you are looking for a reader and manager for your eBooks.
- Telegram : if you want a multiplatform messaging client that does have apps for everything.
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