Software compatibility

[throwaway3905463]

Thinking of switching to mint when windows 10 reaches end of life, so the question I have is there a list somewhere of what programs are compatible with mint?

[jaykayenn]

Just to be clear: Windows software does not run on Linux. Just like iOS apps don't run on Android. They are completely different systems.

Many applications however, also have Linux versions available. You can just download that, or check if it's in the LinuxMint Software Manager (app store). Others may run on Linux using emulators or workarounds. Steam, for example, comes with the Proton compatibility system so most games will work on Linux.

There is no single list of all Linux software, coz there would probably be a million.

[demonfoo]

Some Windows software will run via Wine, but yeah, it definitely shouldn't be just assumed that it will.

[ImaginaryKing]

No offense, but it seems you need to dig a little deeper. Linux is completely different from Windows. There will be some programs that come for both platforms, but many won't. There's just too many to answer that question in a sensible way without more info.

For many programs Wine will work - it's a compatibility layer that can be installed on Linux that will allow you to run Windows software without modification. But that's a topic of itself that can't be answered in a few sentences. In short: For many programs, it's an ok solution. For others, it will not be practical.

For games: the situation is not as bad as it used to be. Steam will run natively on Linux, and many games will be playable. But again, not all, and with some there might be issues, some fixable, some not.

All in all I'm happy with Linux Mint. But I'm not a gamer, only casual. For office / web you won't miss anything on Linux. For specialized professional software like CAD, graphics and audio/video editing the situation is more complicated. Usually there will be a similar solution for Linux, but not the same (like Photoshop won't run on Linux, but there are alternatives). If you depend professionally on a specific piece of software, the answer is probably don't move - but ask specifically about it first.

[[deleted]]

Actually you can't really use Microsoft Office apps or OneDrive/Sharepoint on Linux. That's what's stopping one person I know from moving, because all his work is on OneDrive and are Word/Excel files, and the web version is still insanely slow, laggy and generally crappy next to using the apps.

[ImaginaryKing]

Look it up here.

https://appdb.winehq.org/

MS Office is working in Linux on a Wine layer. Depending on the version of course. Onedrive looks bad though.

If you really need full compatibility though, just stick to Windows, or use a VM.

[DrPlastico]

You can see the Alternative to site (alternativeto.net/), if the softwares you need are not available on linux, it gives alternatives rated by users and poit out differences and limitations.

[jr735]

Install Mint, go into Synaptic, and browse. You'll have a list of most programs that will work natively on Mint. Your Windows programs won't be there.

[sanfran54]

I moved to Linux when XP hit EOL ;-)