What Operating System should you use?

Today, the three main players are Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux.

• Windows is a closed operating system. It requires the purchase of a software license. It is one of the most popular operating systems with a huge selection of available programs and games. It is still the standard operating system for casual and competitive gaming. However,

  💀💣 Windows is not safe, it is the most malware-ridden and less privacy-orientated operating system out there, very vulnerable to many threats, including viruses, spyware, adware, ransomware, Trojans, and worms 😞 !

• macOS ia a Unix operating system, developed by Apple, specifically for their Macintosh line of computing machine systems. Every Mac is preinstalled with the macOS and updated every year or so. It is well known for having a user friendly and clean interface, better optimization of hardware and software, high prices, more secure than Windows (less malware), and limited gaming options.

• GNU/Linux is a free operating system originally developed by Linus Torvalds in 1993. It’s available for everyone to download, use, modify, and distribute it at no cost. Linux comes in many flavors, commonly known as distributions, such as Debian, Arch, and Fedora. More importantly, you should use open source operating systems and applications to avoid vendor lock-in.

Free software is one answer to a world built-in proprietary (expensive) code. What does free software mean? Free software is like cooking for yourself. It is more work, but it is cheaper, tastier, you know what you are doing (you have the recipe), and it is better for you. Free software means you are free to download, use, copy, modify, and redistribute it.

[Image](../images/FreeSoftwareIsLikeCooking.jpeg" title=“Free Software Is Like Cooking for Yourself)

• Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux distributions. It is fast, free, and easy to use, so it is strongly recommended for Linux newbies.

Linux is free software. It is completely free of charge.

• Linux Mint is a modern, polished, elegant, and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use. It provides a full out-of-the-box multimedia support by including some proprietary software, such as multimedia codecs, and comes bundled with a variety of free and open-source applications. It features the Cinnamon desktop environment.

[Image](../images/edubuntu.jpeg” title=“Linux Mint is one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions)

• Arch Linux is a lightweight and flexible Linux® distribution that tries to Keep It Simple. It is a rolling-release distribution, backed by pacman, meaning there are no “major releases” of new versions of the system. A regular system update is all that you need to do to obtain the latest and greatest Arch software. [Image](/software/images/doudolinux.jpeg” title=“Arch Linux)

  Manjaro is a user-friendly, desktop-orientated Linux distribution based on Arch. EndeavourOS is a terminal-centric distro with a vibrant and friendly community at its core based on Arch.

• If you want to use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship, you may want to use Tails, the distro for the privacy conscious.
• Steam OS and Ubuntu GamePack are the most popular gaming distros today.
• Kali Linux is the most widely known Linux distro for ethical hacking and penetration testing. It is a Linux distribution specifically geared towards professional penetration testers and security specialists.
• Elementary is for those who like a beautiful and elegant looking desktop. It looks a lot like macOS and promises to get out of the way and let you focus on what you need to get done.
• Zorin OS is the alternative to Windows and macOS designed to make your computer faster, more powerful, secure, and privacy respecting. It is a Windows-friendly linux distro.
• Deepin is one of the most beautiful, easy to use, safe, and reliable Linux distributions. It is based on Debian.  
• Rescue operating systems: GParted is a free partition editor for graphically managing your disk partitions. Clonezilla is a partition and disk imaging/cloning program similar to True Image® or Norton Ghost®. Hiren’s BootCD PE is a restored edition of Hiren’s BootCD based on Windows 10 PE x64. It contains many free tools to fix many problems related to your computer.
• Others: OpenMediaVault is a Linux distribution designed for network-attached storage (NAS). Pi-hole is a network-wide ad blocker. Raspberry Pi OS is a Debian-based operating system for Raspberry Pi.