7 Popular Windows Apps That Aren't Available on macOS

The vast Windows ecosystem means that not every popular app has a version for Apple's macOS. Here are some of the most popular Windows apps you won't find on macOS, along with the best alternatives when possible.

1. Netflix

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The Netflix app for Windows offers all the handy features found in the mobile app, including Picture-in-Picture (PiP) and rich 5.1 audio support. The app used to let you download movies and shows for offline viewing. However, the latest version of the app is now a web wrapper. This means that streaming quality and performance have been greatly improved, but the download feature is no longer available.

2. Paint.NET

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Paint.NET is one of the most popular photo editing tools on Windows. Thanks to its third-party plugin support, it stands out for its ease of use and is a great tool for everything from quick on-the-go edits to professional pixel art.

Paint.NET isn't available for macOS, but Pinta is a comparable alternative. It offers similar editing features and closely mimics Paint.NET's user interface, but doesn't support third-party plugins.

3. Notepad++

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If a full IDE seems too cumbersome for quick edits or code reviews, Notepad++ might be the solution. This free app supports most programming languages ​​and is one of the best code editors for syntax highlighting. You can make quick notes, read text files, and even compile and execute code.

Notepad++ is a Windows-only utility. Luckily, many of the best editors for Mac offer similar features.

4. WinRAR

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Even though Windows 11 now has native support for TAR and RAR archives, WinRAR continues to be a popular file manager in the Windows ecosystem due to the versatile file compression and decompression features it offers. But it does much more than that. WinRAR allows you to compress files to reduce their size and protect them with strong passwords or encryption.

Unfortunately, macOS only has access to a command line version of WinRAR. If you're looking for a more accessible alternative, The Unarchiver and Keka are both great options on the Mac.

5. PowerToys

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PowerToys is a collection of free productivity tools that the default Windows installation doesn't have. The main window provides access to all the different tools separated by tabs, like Always on Top, Color Picker, Crop and Lock, etc.

macOS doesn't have an equivalent to PowerToys, although some similar features are built directly into the operating system. Preview offers Peak-like quick file viewing, and you can easily batch rename multiple files at once using the default Rename option.

6. ShareX

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ShareX is a screenshot tool used on Windows to capture, edit, and annotate screenshots. Many options in ShareX allow users to use it to take quick screenshots, assign hotkeys to trigger timed screenshots, or create GIFs right from the taskbar.

Finding a similar tool for macOS can be difficult, especially since ShareX is completely free to use, but some of the best screenshot apps for Mac are close.

7. Everything

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Windows File Explorer is a great file manager, except for its incredibly slow search function. In contrast, the Everything search utility finds files on your drive almost instantly with a simple name search, often displaying results before you've even finished typing.

Find Any File is probably the closest alternative to Everything for macOS, though it's not as fast.

While macOS offers a wide range of apps, some of the most popular Windows programs remain exclusive due to platform-specific capabilities and legacy support. Of course, you can always find an alternative; it just might not offer all the same functionality. If you want to use all of these apps on macOS, there are plenty of virtualization options, like Parallels Desktop, to run Windows apps on your Mac.

Kareem Winters

Update 09 December 2024