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• Free and recommendable Operating Systems •
 is the first Operating System on my list and I HIGHLY recommend it cause it's my favorite system. Download the ISO image, burn a CD and start working with Ubuntu. Cause it's a Live-CD you can test Ubuntu (Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Lubuntu and Ubuntu Studio, too) right from the CD and if you want you can install it after testing enough. Just click on the icon in the upper left corner and you'll be supported with a graphical installation wizard in many languages but you can select your language with F2 when the CD starts up. This applies also to the already named derivatives of Ubuntu. If you have a Windows system installed on your machine: Don't worry! Ubuntu doesn't touch other systems, you only need enough free space on your hard drive. After the installation progress you must reboot the computer, then you can chose (use up and down arrow keys) between Ubuntu and Windows.
A complete Office Suite (OpenOffice.org) and applications like a viewer for images and documents (including PDF), Firefox (web browser), the Mail Client Evolution (see GNOME Office) and some more are already integrated. Additional programs like GIMP for advanced image editing could be installed from the large Online Repository thru using the Software Center or the Package Manager Synaptic.
Ubuntu is really ready for the efficient and everyday use and also recommendable for beginners and people who want to switch from Windows! Editions: Desktop Edition (32/64-bit) for PC's, Laptops / Notebooks, Server Edition (32/64-bit) and the Netbook Edition.
Ubuntu works with the GNOME Desktop Environment.
View some Screenshots to get a picture:
The Ubuntu Desktop File Browser Language Support
Software Center Control Center Look & Feel
Ubuntu is Debian based Open Source software.
Visit the Homepage of Ubuntu, get it and feel the spirit! ;)
How to install Ubuntu on USB flash drives: Debuntu.org
How to install Ubuntu as a live system on flash drives: Ubuntu Live USB
Xubuntu - will give you the facility to use the Xfce desktop which is very useful if you have older and slow computers or if you want to have a faster desktop environment. Most important integrated apps: Firefox for surfin' the web, Thunderbird for your eMail conversations, AbiWord for easy word processing and Gnumeric for spreadsheets (you can also install the OpenOffice Suite easily), Gimp for image manipulation and evince to view, save and print pdf documents.
Here are some Screenshots to get an impression.
Desktop/Misc Software/PDF Reader AbiWord/Gnumeric Languages
Visit the Homepage of Xubuntu.
Kubuntu - works with the K Desktop Environment (KDE).
Some Screenshots:
Desktop Konqueror Adept Installer
Visit the Homepage of Kubuntu.
Edubuntu - is a special system (GNOME Desktop) for schools but you can also use it at home. The Office Suite OpenOffice.org and educational applications for e.g. math and science are built-in.
Visit the Homepage of Edubuntu.
Lubuntu - is yet faster than Xubuntu cause it works with LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment). It's not only fast, it also eats less memory and CPU than other Environments like KDE and GNOME do!
Visit the Homepage of Lubuntu.
Ubuntu Studio - was especially made for multimedia creation but a Browser (Firefox) and applications like Office (OpenOffice) and more, are also integrated.
Visit the Ubuntu Studio Homepage.
Ubuntu Privacy Remix - is a Live-CD only OS for better privacy!
 is also a derivative of Ubuntu and works with the pretty looking LXDE. The system has only the essential tools on board and the filesize (approx. 350 MB) of the downloadable image is only the half of the size of Ubuntu and comparable systems.
 is an often used and popular Ubuntu derivative. It works very well, is easy to install, easy to use and it looks really pretty. The start menu (view Screenshots) is nearly the same as the one from openSUSE but you can replace it easily with the standard Ubuntu menu or the GNOME menu. There are a few other things which differ from Ubuntu but all is - as I wrote before - easy to use and when you start the system for the first time after installation you'll get a welcome screen which provides a list of features and a user guide in PDF. As with Ubuntu, you can chose between a lot of languages at the startup of the Live-CD, standard is English. Featured Linux Mint editions: Main Edition (GNOME), Universal Edition (GNOME without proprietary drivers and software) and the x64 Edition for Computers with 64-bit Technologie. Furthermore there are 3 Community Editions for KDE, XFCE and Fluxbox fans.
Screenshots: Desktop Welcome Apps Control Center
Linux Mint has a big community with Wiki, Forum, Blog and local Websites and Forums.
CrunchBang Linux - is a Ubuntu derivative which works with the Openbox File Manager and is not really recommandable to new Linux users but a Live-CD is available. Test CrunchBang if you want and decide yourself. Screenshot
Ubuntu CE, Sabily and Ubuntu Buddhist Remix - are Ubuntu based systems especially customized for Christians, Muslims and Buddhists.
Qimo 4 Kids - Derived from Xubuntu for children ages 3 and up.
gOS - Derived from Ubuntu and designed especially for Netbooks.
More Netbook systems: easypeasy Moblin Jolicloud
Here is a list of some other Ubuntu derivatives.
Skolelinux - is another educational system like Edubuntu which is really easy to install but it's directly based on Debian and works with the K desktop environment. The network interface is pre-configured so that you can setup a network without advanced knowledge about (Linux) network technology.
Dreamlinux - Based on Debian, available with Xfce and GNOME Desktop, easy installable on hard-drives and USB flash drives, the Live-CD (Sreenshots) is customizable via MkDistro Live Remaster, the Office Suite OpenOffice.org is included and it's optimized for audio and video.
KNOPPIX - The first time I used this great Debian based system from Klaus Knopper (Live-CD) was in 2004 and I found it to be very useful. Since ADRIANE started with KNOPPIX 5.3 the distro is also very recommendable to partially sighted and blind users and you can run the Live-CD (Screenshots) embedded under Windows thru qemu!
Puppy Linux - is not only a Live CD system. It's also a multi-session CD or DVD but you can install it on hard drives, USB hard drives and USB flash drives, too. To create a multi-session CD or DVD you must burn the image as track-at-once and the all the changes and personal settings you make during the live session will be available for the next sessions. The best is that you can install it via Frugal Install to a folder under Windows or another Linux system which makes the update to a higher version really easy cause you only have to replace the old vmlinuz, initrd.gz, pup_Versionnumber.sfs files with the new ones from the new ISO within the Puppy folder. Here is a Screenshot of Puppy installed via Frugal inside a Xubuntu Home Partition.
Download, unpack and run QEMU-Puppy from under Windows! View a Screenshot I made under Windows XP.
Mandriva - is another Debian based OS which you can get with GNOME, KDE or Xfce Desktop. Mandriva (One) is official supported with GNOME and KDE, Mandriva with Xfce is a Mandriva Community Project. Furthermore there is a pure free version without any proprietary software and drivers. The Office Suite OpenOffice.org is integrated and you can install it easily on hard-drives.
More COMPLETELY free Systems without any proprietary software and drivers, all available as Live-CD's so that you can take a look and test them:
gNewSense dynebolic blag Musix GNUstep
sidux - is another Debian based Distribution (Screenshots). It's available (Live-CD) with KDE or Xfce and KDE exists in lite (German and English) and full (more than 10 languages).
GoboLinux - is a Linux system (Screenshots) which don't need a package manager cause the filesystem is able to manage all packages and each program stays in it's own directory. This program folder structure is similar to Windows but a bit more complex.
SymphonyOS - works with the Mezzo desktop environment (which was created especially for SymphonyOS) and the FVWM Window manager. The Mezzo desktop is (like Xfce) very good for running on older hardware.
ReactOS - is very recommendable for people who accustomed too much to Windows over a lot of years and don't want to switch to Linux cause it's too difficult for them. ReactOS is nearly the same like Windows and switching from Windows is easy. A Live-CD image is available, too.
FreeBSD and OpenBSD - are based on BSD, the
UNIX operating system which was created at the University of California, Berkeley. More BSD-Systems: NetBSD, PC-BSD and DesktopBSD.
FreeSBIE - is a Live-CD based on the FreeBSD Operating System.
MilaX and BeleniX - are Live-CD systems based on OpenSolaris which is based on the Solaris Operating System from Sun Microsystems. MilaX and BeleniX could be installed to hard disks and MilaX is able to run from USB flash drives and cards.
Haiku - is a BeOS inspired operating system.
Mac-on-Stick - Run it on Mac OS and Mac OS X, Linux, Windows and Pocket PCs.
Damn Small Linux (DSL) and INSERT - are based on KNOPPIX and both fits on business card CDs and small sized USB flash drives but naturally you can burn the ISO image on normal CDs. Therefore I searched for my old 128 MB USB flash drive and installed DSL on it. You can run DSL also as embedded version from within Windows, the hard drive install process is also easy and you can remaster the Live-CD or DVD to your needs. INSERT is especially qualified for data recovery and network analysis. Browser, File manager, FTP client and more are integrated in both systems. To boot from an USB flash drive, select Removable as 1st Boot Device. Unfortunately not all mainboards support booting from USB devices but you can create a bootable Floppy to boot the USB flash drive (or USB hard disk) thru the Floppy.
Feather Linux - is another KNOPPIX based and small sized (under 128 MB) Linux distribution for running from CDs and USB flash drives.
Slax - A good portable Operating System (Screenshots) based on Slackware.
Pendrivelinux - runs from USB flash drives and embedded from within Windows. Have a look around the Pendrivelinux website to get tutorials for installing e.g. Ubuntu, Knoppix and Gentoo on flash drives.
SystemRescueCD - is what the name promise, a Live-CD (Linux) which you can use to repair your systems and recover sensitive data.
BartPE and WinBuilder - are Windows based Live-Systems for system maintenance and data-recovery, which can be created in conjunction with an original version of a Windows OS. There are more projects like LiveXP (Screenshots) and VistaPE directly available (including downloads) thru the WinBuilder Website.
BasicLinux and blueflops - are minimalistic operating systems which fits on two floppy diks. The system will run completely from RAM after loading from the two floppies. So, if you have no hard disk and no cd drive but a floppy drive, you can use them to work with your computer.
FreeDOS - is a DOS compatible operating system but it's free. :) Here is a list of
DOS commands if you need to review some commands. If you want to read a detailed review with informations about graphical User Interfaces for FreeDos, visit the site of my friend Dmitri Rabounski.
Some more recommandable Operating Systems:
As you can see, there are various and very good Operating Systems which you can download and use free of charge. Why buy expensive ones??? Here are two large lists with Linux distributions at
Linux.org and
Distrowatch. I'm sure you will find one which fits your needs if I presented not the right one for you.
On the LiveCD List you can find over 300 LiveCD Systems for Desktop, Server, Science, Security, Forensic, Development, Education and more.
There are also computer manufacturers where you can buy computers with pre-installed Linux Operating Systems.
Two lists with vendors all over the globe:
Linux.org and Debian.org
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