Open source alternative to windows

The graphics of this operating system is interactive and immersive. Many people and commercial spaces download this OS, as it works great on older and outdated systems as well. Chrome OS is designed to focus on cloud computing. It has impressive performance in media playback and browsing. It works as a cousin to Linux. FreeBSD however is more reliable if used as a server. It works with a desktop environment by default.

Many businesses having security worries and prefer privacy show interest in Free BSD. Trusted BSD projected makes it enhanced and reliable to stop threats. This free OS also supports popular antivirus programs like MacAfee. The installation is graphical with installation managers. Thus, you can rely on this free OS. FreeDOS is open source software! You can also share FreeDOS for others to enjoy! Need to recover data from an old business program? Or maybe you need to run a report from your old finance system?

It is a good alternative to the Windows Operating system. Users can also consider this free OS as a great alternative for windows. Originally, React OS got launched back in as a clone for Windows It offered users to eliminate windows and use React OS without any detecting alteration. There are over nine million lines of programming code for React OS. Haiku came into existence in the year as an open-source alternative to Window.

Since , this free OS has been under continuous progression. It is capable of running many popular interfaces and apps. Haiku is also efficient enough to run many discarded BeOS operating systems. Graphical installation manager makes it seamless for users to install different apps. System requirement for Haiku is minimal, and it runs on all systems; old and new. It is an Amiga-identical free OS.

Users can trust it as an alternative to Windows. The graphical interface of this free OS is similar to most of the 80s and 90s home desktops. It also offers you an older Mac experience. As it comes supported for 90s computers, system requirements are also minimal.

The dialog boxes are quite the same as windows. Businesses can also use it for commercial use, as it supports an older version of commercial apps.

However, this free OS comes designed for x86 systems. It runs comfortably on all modern-day PCs, laptops, and other devices. The most significant feature about AROS is it is efficient enough to run all old and new software. Businesses can get maximum benefits out of this OS. Users may find difficulties in running old Amiga disks in new systems. The graphics of this OS are quite interactive. It offers you a decent user experience. This OS is obtainable for all bit and bit systems.

There are web browsers, Media players, and spreadsheets that come pre-installed with this OS. It is quite decent for all businesses. This OS also supports using a webcam and offers a great resolution with 16 million colors.

Users can find many prevalent games, along with mail clients and an HTTP server. These were the top ten Windows alternative open-source OS. Now that you know the top keep reading to know how to choose the best one. There are wide varieties of free and open-source OS. With a flood of free operating systems existing these days, selecting the imperious one is quite a test. However, this guide is envisioned to assist you in picking the best OS as per your convenience and demands.

Here are some pointers that focus on user experience in free OS. Tech-savvy professionals here have listed some gaging factors used to craft this review. This will assist in selecting an operating system from these best ten that suit your requirements.

Hipster is compiled with GCC instead of Sun Studio and follows a rolling release model and the release team puts out installable snapshots every six-months. What makes OpenIndiana OI approachable to new users is that it runs familiar apps on its desktop. It uses the Mate desktop along with its cache of tools as well as a handful of mainstream productivity apps such as Firefox, Thunderbird and Pidgin.

It boots in a flash and gives you access to a number of useful apps. The OS boots in a snap and gives you the option to either launch the installer or boot into a Live session. The inclusion of a very capable partitioner in the installer is another pleasant surprise. The desktop is fairly simple to navigate and includes a handful of essential apps, plus handy administration and configuration utilities. Visopsys does a nice job of masquerading as a regular desktop, but it really is a very capable CS project and should be treated as such.

Nostalgic open source fans can still get their dose of Amiga-esque goodness through Icaros. First-time users should appreciate the fact that the OS is distributed as an installable live CD to whet their appetite. Click on the eye icon in the panel to get an Applications menu, or on the filing cabinet to get a selection of manuals. It's worth noting that there have been a number of other operating systems that were previously popular but have since been discontinued. One of the most famous of which is AmigaOS, used in Amiga personal computers during the 's and which had a reputation for solid stability.

Much like its ancestor it's been developed with security and stability in mind for commercial applications. We see the claim 'zero downtime' repeated all over the place, and while it's theoretically possible to lock up your hardware with the wrong application, this is something that could have been a real killer feature.

Developed between and , AtheOS — initially planned as a clone of AmigaOS but later following its own path — was the work of a lone Norwegian programmer, Kurt Skauen. After Skauen abandoned the project, its GPL-licensed source code was picked up by the community and Syllable Desktop was born. The majority of it is composed of unique code, although certain components have been pulled from the vast library of open source Linux programs; there's also a Server version, which is more traditionally Linux.

Syllable's key selling point — ignoring the fact that it's free — is its speed and lightness. Slap this on a modern PC and you'll likely never have seen an OS so quick. Syllable does lack the ports that make other indie operating systems attractive, though it contains a number of native apps for web browsing, email, VNC and more. We're not entirely positive that it's still active — the last official update was some time in — but if there's a very, very old PC you need to resurrect with reasonably modern system architecture, try this.

The development of SkyOS has sadly been halted, but it's still worth looking at as an example of an OS constructed from scratch.

Developed initially as an open source project by coder Robert Szeleney, SkyOS was based on concepts gleaned from other platforms but didn't originally borrow their code. That said, a few components are based on other packages — there's no sense, for example, developing an entirely new compiler when GCC already exists, and the SkyFS filesystem is forked from OpenBFS. Later in its life, Szeleney appears to have experimented with a version of SkyOS built on top of a Linux kernel in an attempt to help with driver compatibility.

The source was closed midway through its life, and Szeleney continued development based on feedback from a popular paid public beta program. Unfortunately the struggle to keep up with ever-diversifying computing standards became too much for the lone coder, and development was halted in , with the most recent beta made publicly available in It's obviously incomplete, and not suitable for any kind of business environment, but as a curio to run within a VM it's very interesting.

Whether the extreme religious doctrine behind it interests you or not, TempleOS is an interesting example of a completely independent, unique OS.

It was made and maintained with extreme dedication by one man, Terry A. Davis, over the course of ten years. Earlier, OpenOffice. LibreOffice 3. Later, Go-oo was discontinued in favour of LibreOffice.

Since the office suite that was branded OpenOffice. It was forked in from OpenOffice. Since the core of the OpenOffice. LibreOffice supports third-party extensions. It is used to write small programs known as macros, with each macro performing a different task, such as counting the words in a paragraph. Specifically, LibreOffice is often considered to be more actively developed than OpenOffice; the standard package, for example, offers PDF import, a presentation minimiser and a Wiki publisher.

Users can expand functionality with extensions and templates as well. It includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database. It is packaged as a portable app, so you can take all your documents and everything you need to work with them, wherever you go. It is packaged in the PortableApps. It can also work by itself from a USB, the cloud or local drive. Latest version: 6. NeoOffice began as a project to investigate methods of creating a native port of OpenOffice.

All versions from NeoOffice 3. The source code is still available for free, but the software package is only available with the purchase of a commercial licence. Latest version: OnlyOffice In , a group of software developers, headed by Lev Bannov, launched a project called TeamLab, a platform for internal team collaboration.

In February , OnlyOffice desktop editors became available as a snap package. In January , OnlyOffice announced the release of end-to-end encryption functionality.

It is delivered either as a SaaS solution or as an installation for deployment on a private network. Access to the system is through a private online portal. OnlyOffice includes an online editing suite.

It combines text, spreadsheet and presentation editors that include features similar to Microsoft desktop editors Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Since version 5. OnlyOffice Desktop is an offline version of the OnlyOffice editing suite.