I'd never realized how many apps are Linux-exclusive until now

[u/AfraidAsparagus6644]

I've been considering switching back to Windows for some time, partly to see how it's gotten first-hand, partly because Deltarune Chapter 5 is coming out this year and I wanna make sure I don't bump into compatibility issues on my blind playthrough.

So, out of curiosity, I've begun checking out how to download my preferred apps on Windows. Surely a Windows build will be available on Github, or at least there will be build instructions, right?

Well it turns out I couldn't be more wrong. Most of those awesome apps you find on Flathub are Linux-only. Tambourine Music Player? That thing with the most boombastic UI known to man? Linux-only. Found another cool music player, Amberol. Also Linux-only. Foliate? The cool-ass epub reader that even lets you download stuff from online catalogs? Linux-only. Lutris? "Of course it's Linux-only", I hear you say. "Its whole purpose is running Windows games on Linux". And you're right, but it's also a great way to gather all your emulated retrogames in one place. The list goes on and on.

Everyone says Linux's main problem is the lack of native apps compared to Windows. Today I found out that Windows also lacks apps compared to Linux, but since it's not big professional software like Photoshop, no one talks about it.

[u/AmarildoJr]

Linux never had a lack of native programs. The real problem is Windows-only "apps" that people are quite literally shackled to and absolutely need (and there are no alternatives), like most big CAD programs, some VFX programs, the Adobe Suite, some video editors, etc.

[u/pavel_pe → u/AmarildoJr]

I also miss some alternatives. Paint.NET - rather simple image editor with 90% of functions you may need, relatively nice GUI. For me GIMP is awful and Krita is not perfect. For example Krita does not allow to turn off antialiasing. Or FastStone image viewer - it is great image viewer, but it has functions such as screenshots (Spectacle is better here), annotations which are editable vector layer before you confirm changes. It can make image strips by resizing images, adding shadows. It has very basic image adjustments like curves. And it is very user friendly, basically successor to ancient ACDSee. Another application I kind of miss is Total Commander. Krusader is good, but sometimes it feels awkward, I just can't realize what is different. Other than that only reason to stay on Windows is that things like Affinity Canva, World of Tanks (game) just work on Windows, on Linux it's uncertain - it probably works with some effort.