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41 jobs · both directions

What replaces it on the other side.

Switching breaks on software, not hardware. Search what you use and find out whether there's a replacement, an identical version, or nothing at all.

41 jobs

Creative work

  • Video editing

    MacFinal Cut Pro

    WinPremiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve

    BothSame app on either side: DaVinci Resolve

    Final Cut is Mac-only and always will be. Resolve runs on both and has a free tier.

  • Music production

    MacLogic Pro

    WinFL Studio, Cubase, Ableton Live

    BothSame app on either side: Ableton Live, Reaper

    Logic is Mac-only. Ableton and Reaper are identical on both sides.

  • Free starter DAW

    MacGarageBand

    WinCakewalk, Reaper (trial)

    Windows has no bundled equivalent — Cakewalk is the closest free option.

  • Interface design

    MacSketch

    WinFigma, Adobe XD

    BothSame app on either side: Figma

    Sketch is Mac-only; Figma runs in a browser and ended most of this argument.

  • Photo editing

    MacPhotoshop, Affinity Photo, Pixelmator Pro

    WinPhotoshop, Affinity Photo

    BothSame app on either side: Photoshop, Affinity Photo

  • Motion graphics

    MacMotion, After Effects

    WinAfter Effects

    BothSame app on either side: After Effects

  • 3D and CAD

    MacBlender, Cinema 4D

    WinBlender, 3ds Max, SolidWorks, Fusion 360

    BothSame app on either side: Blender

    Several industrial CAD packages are Windows-only. This is a real lock-in for engineering work.

Everyday work

  • Documents, spreadsheets, slides

    MacPages, Numbers, Keynote

    WinWord, Excel, PowerPoint

    BothSame app on either side: Microsoft 365, LibreOffice, Google Docs

    Excel's macro and add-in ecosystem is still noticeably richer on Windows.

  • Email client

    MacMail

    WinOutlook

    BothSame app on either side: Thunderbird, Outlook

  • Calendar

    MacCalendar

    WinOutlook Calendar

  • Notes

    MacNotes

    WinOneNote

    BothSame app on either side: Obsidian, Notion

  • To-do list

    MacReminders

    WinMicrosoft To Do

    BothSame app on either side: Todoist

  • PDF viewing and markup

    MacPreview

    WinEdge, Acrobat Reader, SumatraPDF

    Preview has no single Windows equivalent — its job is split across three apps.

  • Default browser

    MacSafari

    WinEdge

    BothSame app on either side: Chrome, Firefox

  • Password manager

    MacPasswords / Keychain

    WinCredential Manager

    BothSame app on either side: 1Password, Bitwarden

Utilities

  • Launcher and search

    MacSpotlight, Raycast, Alfred

    WinWindows Search, PowerToys Run, Everything

    Everything is faster at filename search than anything on macOS.

  • File manager

    MacFinder

    WinFile Explorer

  • Window snapping

    MacBuilt-in tiling, Rectangle, Magnet

    WinSnap Layouts, FancyZones

    Built into Windows for years; macOS only shipped tiling in Sequoia.

  • Automated backup

    MacTime Machine

    WinFile History, Windows Backup, Macrium Reflect

    Time Machine is the one utility switchers miss most — nothing built into Windows matches it for set-and-forget.

  • Process monitor

    MacActivity Monitor

    WinTask Manager

  • Disk management

    MacDisk Utility

    WinDisk Management

  • Clipboard history

    MacRaycast, Maccy

    WinWin+V, built in

    Windows has this out of the box. macOS needs a third-party app.

  • Screenshots and annotation

    MacScreenshot, CleanShot X

    WinSnipping Tool, ShareX

  • Wireless file transfer

    MacAirDrop

    WinNearby Sharing, Quick Share

    BothSame app on either side: LocalSend

  • Archive and unzip

    MacArchive Utility, Keka

    WinBuilt-in zip, 7-Zip

    BothSame app on either side: 7-Zip

  • Peek at a file without opening it

    MacQuick Look (Space)

    WinQuickLook from the Store

    Not built into Windows; the Store app copies the behaviour closely.

Development

  • Package manager

    MacHomebrew

    Winwinget, Chocolatey, Scoop

    winget ships with Windows now. Scoop is the closest in spirit to Homebrew.

  • Terminal emulator

    MacTerminal, iTerm2, Ghostty

    WinWindows Terminal

    BothSame app on either side: WezTerm, Alacritty

  • Code editor

    MacVS Code, Xcode

    WinVS Code, Visual Studio

    BothSame app on either side: VS Code, JetBrains IDEs

  • iOS and macOS development

    MacXcode

    WinNot possible

    Xcode is macOS-only. There is no workaround for App Store submission.

  • Containers

    MacDocker Desktop, OrbStack

    WinDocker Desktop, Podman

    BothSame app on either side: Docker Desktop

  • Linux environment

    MacBuilt-in Unix shell

    WinWSL2

  • Plain text editor

    MacTextEdit

    WinNotepad

  • System logs

    MacConsole

    WinEvent Viewer

System interface

  • Settings

    MacSystem Settings

    WinSettings

  • App switcher overview

    MacMission Control

    WinTask View

  • App launcher bar

    MacDock

    WinTaskbar

  • All apps list

    MacLaunchpad

    WinStart menu

  • Virtual desktops

    MacSpaces

    WinVirtual desktops

  • Force a frozen app to close

    MacForce Quit (⌥⌘Esc)

    WinTask Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc)

  • Scripting and automation

    MacShortcuts, AppleScript, Automator

    WinPower Automate, AutoHotkey, PowerShell