Compare the Top Operating Systems for Windows as of October 2025

What are Operating Systems for Windows?

Operating systems are foundational software that manage computer hardware, software resources, and provide services for applications and users. They handle critical functions such as process scheduling, memory management, device control, file systems, and security. Operating systems provide a user interface—either graphical (GUI) or command-line—that allows individuals to interact with the machine. They also offer APIs and system calls that enable developers to build and run applications consistently across devices. From personal computers to servers, mobile devices, and embedded systems, operating systems are essential for ensuring stability, efficiency, and usability in modern computing environments. Compare and read user reviews of the best Operating Systems for Windows currently available using the table below. This list is updated regularly.

  • 1
    fydeOS

    fydeOS

    fydeOS

    FydeOS is a lightweight operating system with a Linux kernel + browser platform + container technology driver; its use is very similar to Google Chrome OS. FydeOS can run smoothly on most mainstream hardware. Hardware devices installed with FydeOS can perfectly support the latest web application standards, are compatible with Android programs and Linux environments, and can be used in network environments in China without any obstacles, providing a Google Chromebook-like experience. FydeOS is based on the second development of The Chromium Projects. We have modified and optimized its kernel, based on the most optimized browser platform, and added more localization enhancements that conform to the habits of users in China and improve user experience. Cloud technology operating system that truly meets the needs of the Internet era. After a long time of accumulation of technology, we can make FydeOS run in more types of hardware devices and provide an overall solution around FydeOS.
    Starting Price: $12.99 per year
  • 2
    CloudReady

    CloudReady

    Neverware

    Transform your organization’s computers so they’re secure, easy to manage, and never slow down. CloudReady gives you all the power of the web—without the weight or risk of traditional operating systems. It’s an OS designed for now...and for what’s next. That’s why companies, non-profits, schools, and government agencies around the world use CloudReady to streamline and secure their devices when accessing web apps and VDI. CloudReady is based on Google’s Chromium OS, the same open-source architecture as Chrome OS. Whether your computers are brand new or a decade old, installing CloudReady provides unparalleled speed, simplicity, and security without hardware limitations.
    Starting Price: $15 per device per year
  • 3
    Parrot OS

    Parrot OS

    Parrot Security

    Parrot is a worldwide community of developers and security specialists that work together to build a shared framework of tools to make their job easier, standardized and more reliable and secure. Parrot OS, the flagship product of Parrot Security is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian and designed with Security and Privacy in mind. It includes a full portable laboratory for all kinds of cyber security operations, from pentesting to digital forensics and reverse engineering, but it also includes everything needed to develop your own software or keep your data secure. Always updated, frequently released with many hardening and sandboxing options available. Everything is under your complete control. Feel free to get the system, share with anyone, read the source code and change it as you want! this system is made to respect your freedom, and it ever will be.
  • 4
    Fedora

    Fedora

    Fedora

    Fedora Workstation is a reliable, powerful, and easy-to-use operating system for desktop and laptop computers. It is functional for a wide range of developers, from hobbyists and students to professionals in business environments. Focus on your code with the GNOME 3 desktop environment. GNOME is developed with the needs of developers in mind and is free from unnecessary distractions, so you can focus on what really matters. Avoid the hassle of trying to find or compile the tools you need. With Fedora's comprehensive collection of open source languages, tools, and utilities, it's just a click or command away. There are even hosting projects and repositories like COPR to share your code and make builds available to the entire community.
  • 5
    OmniOS

    OmniOS

    OmniOS

    The open-source enterprise server OS with just the features you need. ZFS, OmniOS' native file system, combines a volume manager and file system with strong data-integrity protection. Easily share volumes via iSCSI, CIFS, and NFS. Run lightweight OmniOS or Linux virtual machines in containers without the overhead of a traditional hypervisor and with full resource control. OmniOS also provides full hardware virtualization via bhyve and KVM for running guests such as Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, and many others. Virtualize your network infrastructure through Crossbow virtual interfaces and switches and even allocate dedicated resources for specific services. DTrace provides a comprehensive dynamic tracing framework to aid troubleshooting across the whole software stack. Always available, instrument anything on demand. OmniOS is open-source, self-hosting, and maintained on GitHub. All development is done out in the open with pull requests and anyone can grab the source and build OmniOS.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 6
    DragonFly BSD

    DragonFly BSD

    DragonFly BSD

    DragonFly version 6.2.2 is released. The 6.2 series has hardware support for type-2 hypervisors with NVMM, an amdgpu driver, the experimental ability to remote-mount HAMMER2 volumes, and many other changes. DragonFly belongs to the same class of operating systems as other BSD-derived systems and Linux. It is based on the same UNIX ideals and APIs and shares ancestor code with other BSD operating systems. DragonFly provides an opportunity for the BSD base to grow in an entirely different direction from the one taken in the FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD series. DragonFly includes many useful features that differentiate it from other operating systems in the same class. The most prominent one is HAMMER, our modern high-performance filesystem with built-in mirroring and historic access functionality. Virtual kernels provide the ability to run a full-blown kernel as a user process for the purpose of managing resources or for accelerated kernel development and debugging.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 7
    openSUSE MicroOS
    Microservice OS providing transactional (Atomic) updates upon a read-only btrfs root filesystem. Designed to host container workloads with automated administration & patching. Installing openSUSE MicroOS you get a quick, small environment for deploying containers, or any other workload that benefits from transactional updates. As rolling release distribution, the software is always up-to-date. MicroOS offers an offline image. The main difference between the offline and self-install/raw images is that the offline image has an installer. Raw and self-install allows for customization via combustion or manually in the image after it is written to the disk. There is an option for a real-time kernel. Try MicroOS in VMs running on either Xen or KVM. Using a Raspberry Pi or other system-on-chip hardware may use the preconfigured image together with the combustion functionality for the boot process.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 8
    Mbed OS
    Arm Mbed OS is a free, open-source IoT operating system that includes all the necessary features to develop IoT products. The OS includes everything you need to develop smart, connected products on Arm Cortex-M based hardware, including machine learning capabilities, security, connectivity stacks, an RTOS kernel and drivers for sensors and I/O devices. Arm Mbed OS is designed for the Internet of Things. It is integrated with connectivity, machine learning, networking, and security stacks and is supported with software libraries, development hardware, tutorials and examples. From hardware to the cloud, Mbed OS supports more than 70 silicon, module, cloud, and OEM partners, optimizing your developer choice. By using the Mbed OS API, your application code can remain clean, portable, and simple, while taking advantage of security, communications and machine learning. The integrated solution reduces development cost, time, and risk.
  • 9
    Stratodesk NoTouch
    Stratodesk NoTouch is the #1 Thin Client endpoint OS and management solution in the world. Comprised of both NoTouch OS and NoTouch Center, Stratodesk NoTouch lets you transform any PC, Thin Client, Laptop or Raspberry Pi device into a secure and centrally managed Thin Endpoint. You can also instantly deploy NoTouch OS onto thousands of devices and manage them from oStratodesk NoTouch is the #1 Thin Client endpoint OS and management solution in the world. Comprised of both NoTouch OS and NoTouch Center, Stratodesk NoTouch lets you transform any PC, Thin Client, Laptop or Raspberry Pi device into a secure and centrally managed Thin Endpoint. You can also instantly deploy NoTouch OS onto thousands of devices and manage them from one browser. NoTouch OS is the minimal footprint OS that installs from your server onto your PC, Laptop, Thin Client, or Raspberry Pi Device. NoTouch Center is the #1 endpoint management software for your VDI endpoints.
  • 10
    Kubuntu

    Kubuntu

    Kubuntu

    Quickly find that important document, photo, or video. Split View, Editable Location, a built-in Terminal and many other useful features. Dolphin makes connecting your USB flash drives, SD cards, and your phone super easy! Images are an important part of modern life. Kubuntu has applications that make it easy to browse, share, and enhance your photos. Open PDF, Dejavu, PS, DVI, and more, annotate documents and fill in forms and even read eBooks with Okular, the universal document viewer. untu comes built-in with a music and a movie player that are simple to use. Simply select a song or a movie and Kubuntu will take care of the rest. Kubuntu plays most music and video formats out the box; restricted formats such as MP3 are installed with two clicks when needed, usually during the installation process.
  • 11
    Raspberry Pi OS

    Raspberry Pi OS

    Raspberry Pi Foundation

    Raspberry Pi Imager is the quick and easy way to install Raspberry Pi OS and other operating systems to a microSD card, ready to use with your Raspberry Pi. Watch our 45-second video to learn how to install an operating system using Raspberry Pi Imager. Download and install Raspberry Pi Imager to a computer with an SD card reader. Put the SD card you'll use with your Raspberry Pi into the reader and run Raspberry Pi Imager. Browse a range of operating systems provided by Raspberry Pi and by other organisations, and download them to install manually.
  • 12
    Urbit

    Urbit

    Urbit

    Urbit is for everyone, but sometimes it is easy to get lost in this universe. Follow these links to contribute to the network through developing, operating, and exploring. It solves the hard problems of implementing a peer-to-peer network (including identity, NAT traversal, and exactly-once delivery) in the kernel so app developers can focus on business logic. The entire OS is a single pure function that provides application developers with strong guarantees: automated persistence and memory management, repeatable builds, and support for hot code reloading. The connected world anticipated by Urbit is a much friendlier one, much like the early Internet, where collegial discussion and collaboration was the norm. Problems that are unsolvable without large-scale political centralization in our current internet – data breaches, spam, fake reviews, malware-spreading, harassment – become tractable when individuals control their computing again. You have one login for everything.
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