We all love free stuff, but one of the first things that comes into mind when you hear that something is free is something among the lines of “if it’s free, it must be of low quality”. Sure, this might be true for some fields, but it definitely doesn’t apply to software, open-source software being widely known for its reliability and security – two crucial aspects of a software program. Because the source code of a program is publicly available (thus the name open-source), code errors and security holes can be spotted by skilled individuals and fixed, thus making the program better. Here is a list of the top 10 open-source apps for various platforms which are prone of changing the way you think about open-source software.
- Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is one of the most popular web browsers of the moment, being available for all the major platforms – Windows, Linux, OS X and even mobile platforms. The first version was released in 2002, and the browser kept getting improved ever since, being the go-to option for a lot of Internet users. Firefox distinguished itself by being fast, reliable and highly customizable. And free, of course.
- Transmission
Torrents have always been an efficient way of transferring files over the Internet, especially in the case of peer-to-peer networks, and Transmission is one of the most popular torrent clients available for Linux and OS X. What makes it popular is the fact that it’s designed to be blazing fast and rock solid in terms of stability, with no extra bling or unnecessary features. Transmission is also available for NAS or embedded solutions.
- Libre Office
If you’re looking for a powerful office suite but don’t want to waste money buying the Microsoft Office solution, Libre Office is the perfect open-source alternative to get the job done. The suite comes with all the tools you’d expect from an office suite, such as a word processor, a spreadsheet app and a program to create and view presentations.
- VLC
VLC is a fully-featured open-source multimedia player that will run on any device and open any multimedia file type. The software is available for Windows, OS X, iOS, Android and all flavors of Linux, and it’s one of the most iconic media players around. It may not have the most eye-catchy user interface out there, but it’s fast, effective and free – enough reasons to give it a try.
- 7-Zip
7-Zip is probably the most popular open-source archiving utility out there, coming with an impressive compression ratio, AES-256 encryption and a lot of other features that deliver a great archiving experience. The software is available for free for all desktop platforms.
- GIMP
Whoever says you need to pay a lot of money toget your hands on a powerful image editing tool has clearly never heard of GIMP. Set to be a direct competitor for Adobe Photoshop, GIMP is the open-source image editing tool of choice for Linux lovers, and not only. There are lot of resources available for GIMP online, and the program became so popular that it was eventually ported to OS X and Microsoft Windows as well.
- Virtual Box
Oracle’s Virtual Box is a great pick for your virtualization needs, allowing you to run various guest operating systems from a host operating system of choice. Forget about using multiple computers for testing or other tasks that require different platforms – with Virtual Box, you can have all your platforms in one place.
- Tor
Tor is an open-source browser designed with user privacy and online anonymity in mind. The software uses a special network of tunnels to completely mask the user’s identity. Information is transmitted through randomly designated computers on the network each time, making tracking a user’s browsing pattern impossible. Tor is available for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.
- F-Droid
F-Droid is a portal that Android users can browse for open-source alternatives to popular apps. Once installed, the app grants access to a constantly-updated database of open-source applications. If you’re sick of paid or ad-based programs, F-Droid is a must have.
- Sipdroid
Sipdroid is a popular open-source Android VoIP app, so if you’re looking for a way of calling someone over the Internet without relying on close-code software such as Skype, Sipdroid is the app you’re looking for.
This is the guest post by Davis Miller and Train Games 365!
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