This weekend I’ll begin utilizing a brand new distro on the secondary disk drive on my Linux laptop computer. It is one which had escaped my discover for a very long time, however I used to be fairly positive I would struck gold after I noticed it.

Q4OS has been round since 2014 when Home windows XP reached end-of-life. On condition that Windows 10 similarly reached its technical expiration date last year, and Q4OS remains to be seeing improvement, I assumed it is the right time to offer this Linux distribution a strive.

Four Linux distributions with the Linux mascot, Tux, in the center of the screen and the Windows 11 wallpaper in the background.


5 Windows-like Linux distros you should try out

Ease your self into Linux with a Home windows-like desktop.

Q4OS makes use of Trinity, holding the outdated KDE model

Q4OS Linux distribution with several applications open in the Trinity desktop environment.

Certainly one of Q4OS’s standout traits is its desktop setting choices. Whereas providing KDE Plasma because the default, it additionally affords the Trinity Desktop Surroundings (TDE for brief), which is a fork of KDE Plasma. TDE describes itself as “a free/libre light-weight desktop setting supposed for laptop customers preferring a lean and environment friendly expertise.”

TDE preserves the appears to be like of the older Ok Desktop Surroundings 3 (from earlier than Plasma received its present title), which you would possibly bear in mind from the mid 2000s. Though Qt 3 has been end-of-life for a very long time, TDE’s builders have been sustaining it to assist their desktop.

Plasma is hands-down my favorite desktop environment, however I am additionally fascinated by exploring the way it used to really feel within the age of Qt 3. I am wanting ahead to studying how a lot of my established workflow can match inside TDE.

The Debian base means stability for my work

Since I take advantage of my laptop computer for work, I want it to be working and dependable always. That is why I primarily run Kubuntu Linux on it. Kubuntu makes use of Ubuntu as its base, and Ubuntu is famously dependable—typically to a fault.

Q4OS, in the meantime, makes use of Debian Linux as its underlying package deal base, which Ubuntu itself is predicated on. Meaning, as long as Q4OS’s builders sustain upkeep updates, I can sustain a dependable system for work and play whereas exploring a really totally different distribution.

Debian really occurs to be considered one of my favorite Linux distros for servers, so I really feel comfy with it already. That’ll cut back the training curve, so I am hoping for a comparatively seamless slip into every day driving Q4OS.

There are built-in retro Home windows-style themes

The retro appears to be like do not cease at Ok Desktop 3 preservation. What makes Q4OS actually enjoyable is its assortment of themes for Trinity that mimic Home windows working methods in its Home windows XP and Vista eras. That is the time of Home windows after I was first stepping into computer systems and software program as a pastime.

Not solely do they give the impression of being surprisingly good, however they’re additionally extra handy. Once I’ve utilized retro themes to Linux desktops up to now, they’ve usually required third-party software program and asset packages. Within the case of Q4OS, it is constructed into the settings supervisor.

The Chicago95 theme applied to an XUbuntu installation, showing Thunar and Libre Writer with Windows 95 style UI applied.


This Linux Theme Gave Me the Windows 95 Experience in 2024

It is time to head again to 1995 with this Linux theme.

It is not simply the nostalgia, although. I additionally suppose a number of the conventions and layouts match my mind and my workflow higher than trendy desktops. I’ve by no means felt fairly at residence on Home windows 11’s desktop, and Linux desktop environments that attempt to mimic it do not sit proper with me.

My laptop computer is making this simple

As I mentioned earlier, I am doing all of this on my laptop computer, which is a Kubuntu Focus Ir 14 Gen 2. It got here with Kubuntu preinstalled, and I plan to maintain that in place on the unique inner drive whereas I check out Q4OS.

In fact, this type of testing is likely one of the causes I wished the laptop computer. It was constructed to deal with {hardware} upgrades and expansions, and after I ended up with a spare NMVe drive, I used to be in a position to place it there. A separate inner onerous drive makes for the right dual-boot configuration.

Kubuntu Focus Ir16 Gen 2 laptop on a white background.

8/10

Working System

Kubuntu

CPU

Intel Core i5-13500H


If you wish to strive Q4OS your self, you may get it from the Q4OS download page. After getting an ISO in hand, you may spin it up as a digital machine, or flash the picture to a USB drive and boot it dwell. Observe our complete guide to installing Linux for those who’ve by no means gone down the Tux path and need to be taught extra.

Curiously, Q4OS affords a devoted “Home windows installer” software for individuals who need to dual-boot Home windows and Q4OS on the identical drive. I usually recommend against dual-booting on a single drive, since it could simply result in booting points. If you wish to use it as a solution to trial-run Q4OS, although, it could be workable.


Source link