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<title>Free Software for Windows
- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
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<h2>Free Software for Windows</h2>

  <p>Here is a list of popular free software applications that run on
  Microsoft Windows — along with the proprietary applications
  they replace. If you are still a Windows user, you can take a first
  step towards free software by installing these applications.</p>

<blockquote id="windows7sins"> id="windows7sins" class="imgright">
<p><a href="http://www.upgradefromwindows8.com"><img
src="https://static.fsf.org/fsforg/graphics/windows-infographic_medium.png"
alt="Close Windows, Open Doors" /></a></p>
<p>Upgrade from Windows 8</p>
</blockquote>

  <p>When we say these application programs are <a href=
  "/philosophy/free-sw.html">free
  href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>, we're talking about
  freedom, not price. It means that you are free to use these programs
  constructively, either alone or in a community, while respecting the
  freedom of others. The source code is available, so that you can
  study the software, adapt it to your needs, fix bugs, and release
  versions with new features. You can also convince or pay others to
  do these things for you. You are also free to give away and free to
  sell copies, under the terms of the applicable free software
  license. These programs are free software because <em>you have
  freedom</em> in using them. Free software develops under the control
  of its users.</p>

  <p>Microsoft Windows is a clear and instructive example of nonfree
  software. Its source code is a secret, so programmers cannot learn
  from it, fix it, adapt it to their clients (your) needs, or even
  verify what it really does. If you share copies with your neighbors,
  you will be called a "pirate", “pirate”, and users have been threatened with
  imprisonment for this. Nonfree software is completely controlled by
  its developer, who also has power over the users. We started the
  free software movement because <a
  href="/philosophy/freedom-or-power.html">this power is
  unjust</a>.</p>

  <p>Using free software on Microsoft Windows (or any nonfree
  operating system) is the first step towards freedom, but it does not
  get you all the way there. You're still under Microsoft's power as
  long as you use Windows.</p>

  <p>So the next step is to replace Windows with a <a href="/distros">free
  href="/distros/">free operating system such as GNU/Linux</a>.</p>

  <p><strong>However, on this page we're concerned with the first step.</strong></p>

  <h3><a href="http://directory.fsf.org/blender.html">Blender 3D</a></h3>

  <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Maya, 3DSMax</p>

          <p>Blender


<table id="TOC">
 <thead>
  <tr><th>Category</th>
      <th>Free program<a href="#f1"><sup>1</sup></a></th>
      <th>Replacement for</th>
  </tr>
 </thead>
 <tbody>
  <tr><td rowspan="3">Graphics and Design</td>
      <td><a href="#Dia">Dia</a></td>
      <td>Microsoft Visio</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
      <td><a href="#GIMP">GIMP</a></td>
      <td>Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
      <td><a href="#Inkscape">Inkscape</a></td>
      <td>Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand, CorelDraw, Xara Xtreme</td>
  </tr>
  <tr><td rowspan="5">Internet</td>
      <td><a href="#ClawsMail">Claws Mail</a></td>
      <td>Outlook, Outlook Express</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
      <td><a href="#GNUnet">GNUnet</a></td>
      <td>Napster, etc.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
      <td><a href="#Pidgin">Pidgin</a></td>
      <td>Trillian, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ chat clients</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
      <td><a href="#QupZilla">QupZilla</a></td>
      <td>Firefox<a href="#f2"><sup>2</sup></a>, Chrome, Internet Explorer</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
      <td><a href="#qBittorrent">qBittorrent</a></td>
      <td>BitTorrent</td>
  </tr>
  <tr><td rowspan="2">Multimedia</td>
      <td><a href="#Blender3D">Blender3D</a></td>
      <td>Maya, 3DSMax</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
      <td><a href="#VLC">VideoLan Client (VLC)</a></td>
      <td>Windows Media Player, PowerDVD</td>
  </tr>
  <tr><td>Office and Productivity</td>
      <td><a href="#LibreOffice">LibreOffice</a></td>
      <td>Microsoft Office</td>
  </tr>
  <tr><td>Publishing</td>
      <td><a href="#Scribus">Scribus</a></td>
      <td>PageMaker, InDesign, QuarkXPress</td>
  </tr>
  <tr><td>Programming Utilities</td>
      <td><a href="#MinGW">MinGW</a></td>
      <td>Microsoft Visual C++</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>
<div id="notes">
  <ol>
    <li id="f1">This is a selection of the first and only fully integrated 3D
          graphics creation suite allowing modeling, animation,
          rendering, post-production, realtime interactive 3D more
    common free software applications available for the Microsoft Windows
    platform, and
          game creation is nothing like a comprehensive list.</li>

    <li id="f2">Why not recommend Firefox? As explained in our <a
    href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">Free Software Definition</a>, all
    four freedoms must be available on both a commercial and playback with cross-platform
          compatibility.</p>

	<h3><a href="http://directory.fsf.org/dia.html">Dia</a></h3>

        <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Microsoft Visio</p> non-commercial
    basis. Mozilla's trademark policy serves to limit Freedom 2 to gratis
    distribution only, making the software nonfree.</li>
  </ol>
</div>

<dl>

<dt id="Dia"><a href="http://directory.fsf.org/dia.html">Dia</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>Dia is designed to be much like the proprietary
  Microsoft program 'Visio'. It can be used to draw many
  different kinds of diagrams. It currently has special
  objects to help draw entity relationship diagrams, UML
  diagrams, flowcharts, network diagrams, and simple
  circuits. It is also possible to add support for new
  shapes by writing simple XML files, using a subset of SVG
  to draw the shape.</p>

  <p>It can load and save diagrams to a custom XML format
  (gzipped by default, to save space), can export diagrams
  to EPS or SVG formats and can print diagrams (including
  ones that span multiple pages).</p>

	<h3><a href="http://directory.fsf.org/pidgin.html">Pidgin</a></h3>
	  
        <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Trillian, AIM, MSN, Yahoo and ICQ chat clients</p>
        
          <p>Pidgin (Gaim) is a multi-protocol instant messaging client,
          with support for:</p>

          <ul>
            <li>AIM (Oscar and TOC protocols),</li>

            <li>ICQ,</li>

            <li>MSN Messenger,</li>

            <li>Yahoo,</li>

            <li>IRC,</li>

            <li>Jabber,</li>

            <li>Novell,</li>

            <li>Gadu-Gadu, and</li>

            <li>Zephyr networks.</li>
          </ul>

          <p>Pidgin also supports plugins, for additional
          functionality.</p>

	<h3><a href="http://directory.fsf.org/gimp.html">GIMP</a></h3>
	  
        <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro</p>
</dd>


<dt id="GIMP"><a href="http://directory.fsf.org/gimp.html">GIMP</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program.
  It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert
  quality photo retouching program, an online batch
  processing system, a mass production image renderer, an
  image format converter, etc.</p>

  <p>GIMP is expandable and extensible. It is designed to
  be augmented with plug-ins and extensions to do just
  about anything.</p>

  <p><i>Anyone who is familiar with the GNU/Linux operating
  system has probably seen/used the GIMP at some stage. In
  terms of compatibility, GIMP can open/manipulate the
  PhotoShop <b>PSD</b> format and the Paint Shop Pro
  <b>PSP</b> format.</i></p>

	  <h3><a href="http://gnunet.org">GNUnet</a></h3>
        <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Napster, etc.</p>

          <p>GNUnet is a framework for secure peer-to-peer
          networking that does not use any centralized or otherwise
          trusted services. A first service implemented on top of
          the networking layer allows anonymous
          censorship-resistant file-sharing. GNUnet uses a simple,
          excess-based economic model to allocate resources. Peers
          in GNUnet monitor each others behavior with respect to
          resource usage; peers that contribute to the network are
          rewarded with better service.</p>

	  <h3><a href="http://www.inkscape.org/">Inkscape</a></h3>

	  <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Adobe Illustrator,
        Macromedia Freehand, CorelDraw or Xara Xtreme</p>
</dd>


<dt id="Inkscape"><a href="http://www.inkscape.org/">Inkscape</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>Inkscape is an vector graphics editor, with
  capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw,
  or Xara Xtreme using the W3C standard Scalable Vector
  Graphics (SVG) file format. Supported SVG features
  include shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha
  blending, transforms, gradients, patterns, and
  grouping.</p>

  <p>Inkscape also supports Creative Commons meta-data,
  node editing, layers, complex path operations, bitmap
  tracing, text-on-path, flowed text, direct XML editing,
  and more. It imports formats such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and
  others and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based
  formats.</p>

<h3><a href="http://www.mingw.org">MinGW</a></h3>

        <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Microsoft Visual C++</p>

<p>MinGW (Minimalist GNU for Windows) provides many of
          the GNU programming utilities on Windows. It includes the
          GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), Binutils, GNU Debugger
          (GDB), Make, and more.</p>

        <p><b>Application:</b></p>

        <h3><a
</dd>


<dt id="ClawsMail"><a href="http://www.claws-mail.org/">Claws Mail</a></h3>

<p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Outlook, Outlook Express</p> Mail</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>Claws Mail is designed to be familiar to new users coming from other
  popular email clients, as well as experienced users.</p>

<h3><a href="http://www.libreoffice.org/">LibreOffice</a></h3>
        <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Microsoft Office</p>

<p>LibreOffice is a multi-platform office productivity
          suite compatible with all major file formats.</p>

<h3><a href="http://www.scribus.net/">Scribus</a></h3>

<p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> PageMaker, InDesign, QuarkXPress</p>

<p>Scribus
</dd>


<dt id="GNUnet"><a href="http://gnunet.org">GNUnet</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>GNUnet is a desktop publishing application, like Adobe PageMaker framework for secure peer-to-peer
  networking that does not use any centralized or Adobe InDesign from the proprietary software world. It is
          free software, distributed under the terms of the Gnu
          General Public License.</p>

          <p>Scribus supports many major graphic formats including
          most all otherwise
  trusted services. A first service implemented on top of
  the standard ones used networking layer allows anonymous
  censorship-resistant file-sharing. GNUnet uses a simple,
  excess-based economic model to allocate resources. Peers
  in DTP GNUnet monitor each others behavior with respect to
  resource usage; peers that contribute to the network are
  rewarded with better service.</p>
</dd>


<dt id="Pidgin"><a href="http://directory.fsf.org/pidgin.html">Pidgin</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>Pidgin (Gaim) is a multi-protocol instant messaging client,
  with support for:</p>

  <ul>
  <li>AIM (Oscar and TOC protocols),</li>

  <li>ICQ,</li>

  <li>MSN Messenger,</li>

  <li>Yahoo,</li>

  <li>IRC,</li>

  <li>Jabber,</li>

  <li>Novell,</li>

  <li>Gadu-Gadu, and</li>

  <li>Zephyr networks.</li>
  </ul>

  <p>Pidgin also supports plugins, for additional functionality.</p>
</dd>


<dt id="QupZilla"><a href="http://www.qupzilla.com/">QupZilla</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>QupZilla is a cross-platform web browser with a unified RSS reader,
  history and bookmarks in addition a single window.</p>
</dd>


<dt id="qBittorrent"><a href="http://www.qbittorrent.org/">qBittorrent</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>qBittorrent is an application that enables its users to
          SVG import share
  files over the internet.</p>
</dd>


<dt id="Blender3D"><a href="http://directory.fsf.org/blender.html">Blender 3D</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>Blender is the first and export.</p>

<h3><a only fully integrated 3D
  graphics creation suite allowing modeling, animation,
  rendering, post-production, realtime interactive 3D and
  game creation and playback with cross-platform
  compatibility.</p>
</dd>


<dt id="VLC"><a href="http://videolan.org/vlc/">VideoLAN Client (VLC)</a></h3>


        <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Windows Media Player, PowerDVD</p> (VLC)</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>VLC (initially VideoLAN Client) is a highly portable
  multimedia player for various audio and video formats
  (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MP3, OGG, etc.) as well as
  DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also
  be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in
  IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.</p>

<h3><a href="http://www.tribler.org/">Tribler</a></h3>


        <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> BitTorrent</p>

          <p>Tribler is an application that enables its users to find, 
	  enjoy and share video, audio, pictures, and other things.</p>


<h3><a href="http://www.qupzilla.com/">QupZilla</a></h3>


        <p><strong>Replacement for:</strong> Mozilla Firefox, Google
          Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer</p>

          <p>QupZilla
</dd>


<dt id="LibreOffice"><a href="http://www.libreoffice.org/">LibreOffice</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>LibreOffice is a cross-platform web browser multi-platform office productivity
  suite compatible with a unified RSS reader, history and bookmarks in a single window.</p>
	<p>Why not recommend Firefox? As explained in our <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">Free Software Definition</a>, all 
four freedoms must be available on both major file formats.</p>
</dd>


<dt id="Scribus"><a href="http://www.scribus.net/">Scribus</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>Scribus is a commercial and non-commercial basis. Mozilla's trademark policy serves to limit 
Freedom 2 to gratis distribution only, making desktop publishing application, like Adobe PageMaker
  or Adobe InDesign from the proprietary software nonfree.</p>

	<p>This world. It is a selection
  free software, distributed under the terms of the more common free software
  applications available Gnu
  General Public License.</p>

  <p>Scribus supports many major graphic formats including
  most all of the standard ones used in DTP in addition to
  SVG import and export.</p>
</dd>


<dt id="MinGW"><a href="http://www.mingw.org">MinGW</a></dt>
<dd>
  <p>MinGW (Minimalist GNU for Windows) provides many of
  the Microsoft Windows platform, GNU programming utilities on Windows. It includes the
  GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), Binutils, GNU Debugger
  (GDB), Make, and is
  nothing like a comprehensive list.</p> more.</p>
</dd>

</dl>


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<p class="unprintable">Updated:
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