Another good example is dia, which serves as a tremendous open source diagramming and flowcharting tool for those who would ordinarily seek to use Microsoft Visio. Although dia has been available for several years and is completely free, it has not received significant publicity. Consequently, people who depend on this functionality possibly have not considered operating system alternatives to Windows.

We here at ITWire want to help anyone with this dilemma, and ensure people have all the information available that helps them determine which operating system is best for them, on the most level playing field possible.

Here’s two excellent web sites that help in this mission. The first, LinuxAppFinder, strives to make known new open source apps, categorising them by functionality. The second, osalt (“Open Source as alternative”) lists open-source apps according to the proprietary Windows application which is most similar.

We’ll discuss these two sites, then use them to find recommendations for switching from two very well-known and popular commercial programs: Adobe Photoshop and DreamWeaver.