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Alternatives to Windows Apps
A list of cross-platform replacements for Windows apps which work in Zorin OS.
Some apps are currently not able to run in Zorin OS and Linux, or as web apps in a web browser. For the best experience, we recommend that you use alternatives to these apps which work cross-platform.
The following are a few examples of cross-platform alternatives to Windows apps. Most of them can be installed from the Software store in Zorin OS.
Tip
Many of the alternative apps listed below are free and released under Open Source licenses (marked with the 
symbol). Switching to Open Source software can help you to reduce or even eliminate licensing costs for the software you use.
symbol). Switching to Open Source software can help you to reduce or even eliminate licensing costs for the software you use.Office
| Windows app | Cross-platform app |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Office/365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access) | LibreOffice (pre-installed) Microsoft 365 (in a web browser) WPS Office SoftMaker FreeOffice Google Docs (in a web browser) |
| Microsoft Outlook | Evolution (pre-installed) Thunderbird (pre-installed in Zorin OS Lite)Mailspring Microsoft Outlook (in a web browser) Hiri BlueMail |
| Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams (in a web browser) Zoom Jitsi Meet (in a web browser)Jami Google Meet (in a web browser) Skype BlueJeans |
| Microsoft OneNote | Logseq (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) Xournal++ (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro)Joplin Obsidian |
| Microsoft Publisher Adobe InDesign Affinity Publisher | LibreOffice Draw (pre-installed) Scribus (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) |
| Adobe Acrobat Nitro PDF | Evince Document Viewer (pre-installed) LibreOffice Draw (pre-installed) to edit PDFs |
| Autodesk AutoCAD SOLIDWORKS | FreeCAD (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) LibreCAD (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro)Autodesk AutoCAD (in a web browser) DraftSight BricsCAD SketchUp (in a web browser) |
Graphics & Reading
| Windows app | Cross-platform app |
|---|---|
| Adobe Photoshop Affinity Photo Paint.NET PaintShop Pro | GNU Image Manipulation Program (pre-installed) Krita (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro)Pinta Photopea (in a web browser) |
| Adobe Illustrator Affinity Designer | Inkscape (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) Figma (in a web browser) Gravit Designer |
| Adobe Lightroom | Darktable (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) RawTherapee |
| Sketchbook | Krita (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) MyPaint |
| Amazon Kindle | Kindle Cloud Reader (in a web browser) Foliate (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro)calibre |
Sound & Video
| Windows app | Cross-platform app |
|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro VEGAS Pro | Kdenlive (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) Shotcut DaVinci Resolve Lightworks |
| Autodesk 3ds Max Cinema 4D | Blender (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) Autodesk Maya Foundry Modo |
| Adobe After Effects | Natron Blender (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) |
| Ableton Live FL Studio Adobe Audition | Ardour (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) LMMS Bitwig Studio REAPER |
| Streamlabs Desktop XSplit Broadcaster | OBS Studio (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) |
| Apple Music | Cider Apple Music (in a web browser) |
System Tools
| Windows app | Cross-platform app |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Phone Link | Zorin Connect (pre-installed) |
| Remote Desktop | Remmina (pre-installed) TeamViewer Chrome Remote Desktop (in Google Chrome) AnyDesk NoMachine |
| Microsoft Hyper-V | VirtualBox (pre-installed in Zorin OS Pro) Boxes VMware Workstation Player or Workstation Pro |
| Internet Explorer | Mozilla Firefox (pre-installed) Microsoft Edge (with Internet Explorer mode) Google Chrome Brave Vivaldi Opera |
Other apps
You can search for alternatives to many other apps on AlternativeTo.net.
Because Zorin OS is based on Ubuntu and Linux, please make sure to find alternative apps that are natively compatible with Ubuntu and Linux.