I feel a little guilty about moving back to Windows after using Ubuntu for just a few days. In order to remedy this guilt, I decided to see if I can use open-source software for all my needs (excluding drivers and OS). I think that I have succeeded! Here is a list of what I am currently using:
  • Browser - Google Chrome: Based off of the open-source Chromium project, Google Chrome has been my browser of choice for the past year or so. It is definitely not the only open-source browser out there, and there is a chance Firefox 4 may take the position of 'default browser' on my system. For the time being, I like the speed and syncing abilities out-of-the-box so I shall stick with Chrome for the time being.
  • IM - Pidgin: Pidgin is based off of the same open-source libpurple library that powers other IM programs like Adium for MacOS and the web-based Meebo. It is simple, efficient, and works perfectly out of the box with the protocols I use (GTalk and MSN). It may not be flashy but I do not need a flashy IM application.
  • Archiving - 7zip: I have used 7zip for a long time and it is simply the best tool for creating and unpacking zip, rar, tar, and other archiving formats. Plus it's free and open-source!
  • IDE - Code::Blocks: Code::Blocks is an open-source IDE for C and C++. I am going to be using it to start writing games in C++ with the SFML library. It comes with all the standard features an IDE usually comes with these days: syntax highlighting, auto-intend, code complete and so on. I have used it a bit and it seems quite capable, but it may not be long before I start to miss Visual Studio's debugger.
  • Compiler - GCC (MiniGW): GCC is what I used when I started to program in C so I am used to using it. When I found out I could use GCC on Windows, I was pretty happy. Code::Blocks actually comes with a version of MinGW, but it is not compatible with SFML 1.6 so I had to download MinGW separately from Code::Blocks.
If have any more useful suggestions for open-source tools that work on Windows, feel free to suggest them!