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ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Workspace IT / Desktop Apps
Ten outstanding cross-platform apps
Topics
Applications, Cross platform, Utilities, Browsers, Firefox, Chrome, Open source, Linux
COMMENT
Organisations and individuals have to operate across many platforms these days. So we all need apps that can function reliably regardless of operating system, says Jack Wallen.
With Windows, Linux and Mac OS all commonplace, it is increasingly difficult for companies to confine themselves to a single platform. We need applications that can span the various systems, so here are 10 of my favourites.
1. Firefox
Firefox is incontrovertibly one of the most popular cross-platform applications. No other browser has come as close to usurping Internet Explorer as the reigning king of the web.
A good cross-platform browser has become essential, since so many applications and services are now handled online. Thankfully, the rise in popularity of cross-platform browsers such as Firefox has helped ensure companies don't limit access to their sites and services to a single browser.
2. OpenOffice
Applications such as OpenOffice enable those who cannot afford Microsoft Office to function. OpenOffice is one of the pillars of the open-source community and one of the most important cross-platform applications available.
Read this
Ten extensions that give Firefox new reach
The choice of Firefox extensions is no longer confined to stand-alone tools, but now also takes in a number of handy collections, says Jack Wallen
3. TeamViewer
If you do any support work, you know the importance of a good application that provides you with remote access to a client's machine. There are plenty of such applications available. Some are cross-platform because they are used within a browser. But few of them are truly cross-platform applications.
TeamViewer is one such beast. With a client for Windows, Linux, Mac and iPhone, there will rarely be a client or situation you cannot support.
4. Adobe Reader
There's no shortage of PDF readers. In fact, for every platform, there is a PDF reader. But none of those viewers offers the quality and ease of use as that provided by Adobe Reader: it is the standard for PDFs. With clients for just about every platform, it clearly wins out over its rivals.
5. Chrome
Never before has a web browser caused such a buzz. Not only did Google Chrome turn heads, but it also gave the competition reason for concern.
Google Chrome is fast — the Linux version has been tested as the fastest-rendering web browser on any platform — and it is stable, extensible and as cross-platform as any other browser.
6. Thunderbird
If you are looking for a stand-alone email client that runs on all your platforms, look no further than Thunderbird. Thunderbird is a true emailers' email client.
With its slick, tabbed interface, you will find no email client that...
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Talkback
Jack,
I'd like to add Limewire. Hope it makes it through the legal challenge it is facing.
Not to complain too much, but I find Preview infinitely superior and more flexible than Adobe Reader. Alas, Preview is only for the Macintosh but it both reads and transforms PDF documents into other formats beautifully.
Teamviewer? What ever happened to classics like VNC? I've been using that for years to manage desktops at home, and it supports a zillion OSes ... even obscure ones like BeOS and OS/2 if you still have them lying around.
I also find Midnight Commander to be quite valuable, and use it under Windows, Linux, and Solaris as well as on my Nokia 770 tablets.
This is simply another list I've read a 1000 places before.