It’s Time To Change Your Computer OS: The List of The Best Windows Alternatives 0
Linux
The best free operating system is the Linux OS. Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL and other free licenses.
Linux is predominantly known for its use in servers, although it is installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from embedded devices and mobile phones to supercomputers. Linux distributions, installed on both desktop and laptop computers, have become increasingly commonplace in recent years, owing largely to the popular Ubuntu distribution and to the emergence of netbooks.
Here are the list of linux distributions (flavor) you can choose to use:
1. Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux. It is distributed as free software. Ubuntu’s goals include providing an up-to-date, stable operating system for the average user, with a strong focus on usability and ease-of-installation. Ubuntu has been selected by readers of desktoplinux.com as the most popular Linux distribution for the desktop, claiming approximately 30% of their desktop installations in both 2006 and 2007.
Ubuntu
2. Red Hat
Red Hat, Inc. is a company in the free and open source software sector, and a major Linux distribution vendor. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina with satellite offices worldwide.
Red Hat has become associated to a large extent with its enterprise operating system Red Hat Enterprise Linux and with the acquisition of open-source enterprise middleware vendor JBoss. Red Hat provides operating-system platforms along with middleware, applications, and management products, as well as support, training, and consulting services.
Red Hat
3. SUSE Linux
SUSE Linux is a computer operating system. It is built on top of the Linux kernel and is distributed with system and application software from various projects. Suse Linux is of German origin and mainly developed in Europe. The first version of this distribution appeared in early 1994, making SUSE the oldest existing commercial distribution. It is known for its YaST configuration tool. The developer rights are owned by Novell, Inc. since 2003, when the company bought SUSE. Novell, one of the founding members of the Open Invention Network, opened widely the distribution development to outside contributors in 2005, creating the openSUSE project.
Suse Linux
4. Fedora
Fedora is an RPM-based, general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat. Fedora’s mission statement is: “Fedora is about the rapid progress of Free and Open Source software.”
Fedora
5. OpenSuse
openSUSE is a general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported openSUSE Project and sponsored by Novell. After acquiring SUSE Linux in January 2004, Novell decided to release the SUSE Linux Professional product as a 100% open source project, involving the community in the development process.
OpenSuse
6. Mandriva
Mandriva Linux (formerly Mandrakelinux or Mandrake Linux) is an Linux operating system distributed by Mandriva (formerly Mandrakesoft). It uses the RPM Package Manager. The product lifetime of Mandriva Linux releases is 18 months for base updates (operating system, system software etc.) and 12 months for desktop updates (window managers, desktop environments, web browsers etc.) . Server products receive full updates for at least 24 months after their release.
Mandriva
BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD, sometimes called Berkeley Unix) is the UNIX operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995.
Historically, BSD has been considered a branch of UNIX — “BSD UNIX”, because it shared the initial codebase and design with the original AT&T UNIX operating system. In the 1980s, BSD was widely adopted by vendors of workstation-class systems in the form of proprietary UNIX variants such as DEC ULTRIX and Sun Microsystems SunOS. This can be attributed to the ease with which it could be licensed, and the familiarity it found among the founders of many technology companies of this era.
Though these commercial BSD derivatives were largely superseded by the UNIX System V Release 4 and OSF/1 systems in the 1990s (both of which incorporated BSD code), later BSD releases provided a basis for several open source development projects which continue to this day.
Today, the term of “BSD” is often non-specifically used to refer to any of these BSD descendants, e.g. FreeBSD, NetBSD or OpenBSD, which together form a branch of the family of Unix-like operating systems.
Here are the list of bsd distributions (flavor) you can choose to use:
1. DragonFlyBSD
DragonFly BSD is a free Unix-like operating system created as a fork of FreeBSD 4.8. Matthew Dillon, an Amiga developer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and a FreeBSD developer between 1994 and 2003, began work on DragonFly BSD in June 2003 and announced it on the FreeBSD mailing lists on July 16, 2003.
2. FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a Unix-like free operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) branch through the 386BSD and 4.4BSD operating systems. It runs on Intel x86 family (IA-32) IBM PC compatible computers, Sun UltraSPARC, IA-64, AMD64, PowerPC, ARM and NEC PC-9801 architectures along with Microsoft’s Xbox. Support for other architectures is in varying stages of development. The DEC Alpha architecture was previously supported between releases 4.0 and 7.0, with the code being removed for FreeBSD 7.0. FreeBSD currently has more than 200 active developers[3] and thousands of contributors.
3. NetBSD
NetBSD is a freely redistributable, open source version of the Unix-derivative Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) computer operating system. It was the second open source BSD descendant to be formally released, after 386BSD, and continues to be actively developed. Noted for its portability and quality of design and implementation, it is often used in embedded systems and as a starting point for the porting of other operating systems to new computer architectures.
4. OpenBSD
OpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995. The project is widely known for the developers’ insistence on open source code and quality documentation, uncompromising position on software licensing, and focus on security and code correctness. The project is coordinated from de Raadt’s home in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Its logo and mascot is a pufferfish named Puffy.
OpenSolaris
OpenSolaris is an open source operating system based on Sun Microsystems’ Solaris. It is also the name of the project initiated by Sun to build a developer and user community around it.
OpenSolaris is derived from the Unix System V Release 4 codebase, with significant modifications made by Sun since it bought the rights to that code in 1994. It is the only open source System V derivative available. Open sourced components are snapshots of the latest Solaris release under development. Sun has announced that future versions of its commercial Solaris operating system will be based on technology from the OpenSolaris project.
OpenSolaris
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a line of computer operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., and since 2002 has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems. It is the successor to Mac OS 9, the final release of the “classic” Mac OS, which had been Apple’s primary operating system since 1984. Mac OS X, whose “X” represents the Roman numeral for “10″ and is a prominent part of its brand identity, is a Unix-based operating system, built on technologies developed at NeXT between the second half of the 1980s and Apple’s purchase of the company in early 1996. Its sixth and most recent version, Mac OS X v10.5 is certified UNIX 03 while running on Intel processors.
The first version released was Mac OS X Server 1.0 in 1999, and a desktop-oriented version, Mac OS X version 10.0 followed in March 2001. Releases of Mac OS X are named after big cats; for example, Mac OS X v10.5 is usually referred to by Apple and users as “Leopard”. The server edition, Mac OS X Server, is architecturally identical to its desktop counterpart, and includes tools to facilitate management of workgroups of Mac OS X machines, and to provide access to network services. These tools include a mail transfer agent, a Samba server, an LDAP server, a domain name server, and others. It is pre-loaded on Apple’s Xserve server hardware, but can be run on most of Apple’s computer models.
Apple also produces specialized versions of Mac OS X for use on three of its consumer devices; the iPhone OS for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and an unnamed version for the Apple TV.
Mac OS X
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