Switching operating systems can be a daunting task – you need to figure out which of your favorite apps are supported and find good alternatives for those that aren’t. Here’s what I installed right after switching to Linux.
Steam
Linux games are getting better every day
Steam is the most popular digital game store on the web, and it would be a shame to lose access to your library just because you’re switching operating systems. Half the fun of owning a computer is gaming. Fortunately, Steam itself is available for all major Linux distrosand Steam’s compatibility layer (Proton) has made gaming on Linux easier than ever.
Steam also does a great job of figuring out which games can and won’t work on Linux, which helps cut down on the time you spend downloading.
Steam can be downloaded from the Software Center (the Linux version of the app store) on most distros.
Controversy
Just make sure you install it from the right place
Discord has become the standard for communication between players, and it’s becoming increasingly popular to get support from developers, especially if you’re on small open source projects.
It’s the primary means of communication with most of my friends these days, and no computer I use regularly would be complete without it.
I’d recommend installing Discord using Snap (which you can find by searching for it in your distro’s Software Center) instead DEB or RPM packages on the Discord websiteas both require you to update Discord manually.
VSCodium
The best VS Code fork
VSCodium It is a telemetry-free fork of Visual Studio Code (VSCode), Microsoft’s popular text editor. VSCodium supports an extraordinary library of extensions for almost any coding language you can think of, making it almost a fully integrated development environment.
I don’t use VSCodium for basic text editing (Vim is good enough for that), but if I need to sit down and write more detailed code, VSCodium is the first program I turn to.
You can do it download it directly from the GitHub repoand also a snap pack is available.
Spotify
Stream your favorite music from your Linux desktop
I’m very into listening to music while I work because it helps set the mood and pace of whatever I’m working on.
You can probably get Spotify on Linux through your distro’s package manager, but you can add the repo manually to load as needed.
VLC
The best free desktop media player
Most Linux distros come packaged with some sort of media player, and most of them are pretty good in my experience.
However, I am addicted and have been using VLC player since it was released on Windows. the number ways to adjust video and audio playback it’s hard to beat and it supports almost every audio or video format you’ll find on the web.
It can also convert between media formats in a pinch, which I find myself using more than I expected.
VLC 4.0 it also has a UI modernization that I really like. It’s not officially released yet, but I’ve been using it for a few months now without any major issues.
If you’re looking for something more stable, I’d stick with it Official download from VLC or distro’s repository.
OFFICE ONLY
Impressive Microsoft 365 replacement
Microsoft’s Office Suite isn’t something I use all the time, but it’s still important enough that I need a good replacement when I move to Linux.
LibreOffice comes bundled with a ton of Linux distros and I’ve found it works pretty well. However, I wanted something more like the user interface of Microsoft Office.
After looking around I settled on ONLYOFFICE which was quite close and easy to run to. I downloaded it directly from the websitebut using the Program Center (or the command line) will also work.
BitWarden
Secure password management
Everything requires a password, password or passkey. There’s just nothing around it. I have used it BitWarden for long-term storage of my passwords on Windows, and luckily it’s also available for Linux (Kubuntu in my case). I also took the opportunity to run it on my phone, which was a pretty easy process. If it applies to you, it may also store your debit or credit card information.
Everything is protected in the back strong master password.
In addition to syncing your passwords, BitWarden can generate secure passwords or passphrases for you and check if your current passwords are leaked online.
Best way to quit Windows? Try Linux now!
Switching operating systems was very difficult, especially if you were switching from macOS or Windows to Linux. However, things have changed in recent years, and Linux operating systems are no longer the cumbersome, specialist-only behemoths they once were.
It only took about an hour to migrate my entire workflow to Linux, and that includes the time I spent finding alternatives, downloading and installing everything, and tweaking the settings to my liking.
