The topic I switched to Linux and got tools that Windows users will never have pre-installed is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
Ever since I moved from Windows to Linux in mid-2025, I’ve realised just how spoiled I am with open-source software. The real tipping point for me was when I moved from Fedora to openSUSE Tumbleweed and experienced Snapper for the first time. Not only was it included with the OS right out of the box, but it was already set up perfectly. I didn’t need to touch a thing.
That got me thinking: what other apps can a Linux distro have pre-installed that Windows users could only dream of using? When I got thinking about it, I realised the schism between the two operating systems was larger than I originally thought.
First up, let’s take a peek into the app that got me thinking about this in the first place. Snapper is a snapshotting tool that comes pre-configured within openSUSE, and it’s one of its strongest positives. It takes snapshots of your computer’s files and lets you return to a previous state if something goes wrong. Best of all, if you’re using something like openSUSE, the OS will automatically organise your OS on setup, so all your personal files go on a /home subvolume. This means Snapper can rewind time for your system files without touching your personal ones, and you don’t lose any work.
One of my favorite features of Snapper is how intelligent it is. It automatically tracks whenever you install an app, run a system update, or perform any other big system change. It will then take a snapshot immediately before and after the transaction, meaning you’ll always have a restore point right before a big change without needing to lift a finger.
However, Snapper isn’t the only snapshotting tool out there. If you like something a little simpler, Timeshift gives similar results but is more user-friendly. Operating systems like Linux Mint come with it by default.
One of the coolest elements of Linux is how much you can customize the desktop environment. If you’ve ever used a Windows mod that changes how the UI looks, a desktop environment is sort of like that, albeit it’s not so much a mod sitting atop the OS as it is an integral part of it. You can have two PCs running the exact same distro with different desktop environments, and they’ll look and feel like completely different operating systems, despite having identical cores.
KDE Plasma is my favorite one, because it gives you a Windows-like UI that you can tweak to your heart’s content. While Microsoft is only just now adding taskbar customization tools, KDE Plasma has had them for years. There’s also a built-in widget repository, themes, and a ton of KDE apps that make getting started on Linux a lot easier.
Speaking of apps that KDE Plasma comes with, KDE Connect is an excellent alternative to Microsoft’s Phone Link. Despite being a KDE app, you don’t need to run KDE Plasma to get Connect up and running on your PC, which is why it deserves its own spot in this article.
On the surface, KDE Connect seems pretty simple. Open it up on your PC, download the KDE Connect app to your phone, then pair the two. You can now mirror notifications, send your clipboard and files between devices, and even use your phone as a remote control for your cursor. There are also media controls that let you pause, play, and skip songs from your phone.
However, once you get into the meat of KDE Connect, you discover it’s much more than that. Because it’s FOSS, it has no allegiance to any particular OS, meaning you can install it pretty much anywhere, including Windows. KDE Connect also works between computers, so you can use it to share stuff between your desktop, laptop, and phone, regardless of what each one is running.
Finally, I can’t properly state how powerful package managers are on Linux. At first glance, they seem like a real chore; instead of double-clicking an icon on Windows and letting an app do its thing, you use the terminal to type in commands and install things. However, once you get accustomed to package managers, it’s difficult to go back.
One major forte that I love about package managers is their verbosity. They clearly break down what you’re downloading, what dependencies will get installed alongside it, and what it’ll do for your system. You can use the exact same tool to update your apps and erase them from your system, making it a clean central hub for all your app needs. There are different ‘flavors’ of package managers, too, meaning you can find the one that you gel with personally.
The forte of Linux isn’t just that it can run some really powerful apps, but often, those apps come with the operating system without you needing to set them up yourself. It’s touches like that that prevent me from ever going back to Windows.