Best Operating Systems for Windows of 2025

Windows 11 offers a serene and innovative environment that encourages you to explore your interests within a refreshed interface. With an updated Start menu and enhanced methods of connecting with your loved ones, as well as access to news, games, and other content, Windows 11 fosters a space for thinking, expressing yourself, and creative activities. You can seamlessly access all your essential applications and juggle multiple tasks effortlessly using features like snap layouts, virtual desktops, and a newly designed redocking process. Instantly connect with friends and family directly from your desktop using Microsoft Teams, allowing for free calls or chats across any device. Utilizing Microsoft Edge and a variety of customizable Widgets, you can quickly remain informed about the news, insights, and entertainment that are significant to you. Finding the applications you need and the series you enjoy watching is made simple in the revamped Microsoft Store, where everything is organized for your convenience. The overall user experience in Windows 11 is designed to inspire creativity and foster connections, making it a perfect platform for both work and play.

To begin the installation process, you must first obtain a valid license for Windows 10. After securing the license, you can proceed to download and execute the media creation tool. Detailed guidance on utilizing this tool is provided in the instructions below. If your current setup is a PC that runs Windows XP or Windows Vista, or if you require installation media for setting up Windows 10 on another machine, please refer to the section titled Using the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) to install Windows 10 on a different PC. Additionally, if you already possess a license for Windows 10 and are upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, you can follow the appropriate steps outlined for a smooth transition.

Enhanced security features, a wider array of packages, and cutting-edge tools are all part of your open-source ecosystem, spanning from cloud to edge. Safeguard your open-source applications by ensuring comprehensive patching from the kernel to libraries and applications for CVE compliance. Both governments and auditors have verified Ubuntu for compliance with FedRAMP, FISMA, and HITECH standards. It's time to reconsider the potential of Linux and open-source technology. Organizations partner with Canonical to reduce costs associated with open-source operating systems. Streamline your processes by automating everything, including multi-cloud operations, bare metal provisioning, edge clusters, and IoT devices. Ubuntu serves as the perfect platform for a wide range of professionals, including mobile app developers, engineering managers, video editors, and financial analysts working with complex models. This operating system is favored by countless development teams globally for its adaptability, stability, continuous updates, and robust libraries for developers. With its strong community support and commitment to innovation, Ubuntu remains a leading choice in the open-source landscape.

FydeOS is a streamlined operating system that combines a Linux kernel with a browser platform and container technology, mirroring the functionality of Google Chrome OS. It operates efficiently on a wide range of mainstream hardware. Devices equipped with FydeOS are fully capable of supporting modern web application standards, running Android applications, and integrating with Linux environments, all while functioning seamlessly in Chinese network settings, offering users an experience akin to that of a Google Chromebook. Built upon the second development of The Chromium Projects, FydeOS has undergone significant modifications and optimizations to its kernel, enhancing its browser platform and incorporating localization features tailored to Chinese users, thereby enriching the overall user experience. As a cloud technology operating system, it is designed to cater specifically to the demands of the Internet age. Through extensive technological advancements, FydeOS has expanded its compatibility across various hardware types, presenting a comprehensive solution centered around its capabilities. This adaptability ensures that users can leverage FydeOS for diverse applications, enhancing its utility in both personal and professional environments.

Windows Server 2022 brings forth enhanced multi-layered security features, hybrid functionalities with Azure, and a versatile application platform. Begin by fortifying your organization's security framework right from the operating system. Expand your data center capabilities to Azure to achieve improved IT efficiency. Equip developers and IT professionals with a robust application platform designed for building and deploying a range of applications. Discover how using Azure can lead to significant cost reductions through programs like the Azure hybrid benefit and extended security updates. Transform your workloads using Azure, recognized as the reliable cloud solution for Windows Server. Seamlessly connect your on-premises Windows Servers to Azure via Azure Arc. Upgrade to the latest operating system to enjoy superior security, enhanced performance, and increased value. By leveraging Azure, you can now fully tap into the myriad advantages of cloud computing. Starting is free, enabling you to manage servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure, and Windows 10 PCs effectively with Windows Server, making your transition to cloud services smoother and more efficient than ever before.

Revitalize your organization's computing systems to ensure they are secure, manageable, and maintain optimal performance at all times. CloudReady offers the advantages of web functionality without the burdens or vulnerabilities associated with conventional operating systems. It's a modern operating system tailored for current needs and future advancements. For this reason, various organizations—including businesses, non-profits, educational institutions, and government bodies globally—rely on CloudReady to enhance the security and efficiency of their devices when utilizing web applications and virtual desktop infrastructures. Built on Google’s Chromium OS, which shares the same open-source framework as Chrome OS, CloudReady is suitable for computers of any age, from the latest models to those over ten years old. By adopting CloudReady, users can experience exceptional speed, ease of use, and robust security, free from hardware constraints, making it a versatile choice for any organization. Furthermore, this adaptability allows users to maximize their existing technology investments while staying ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Parrot is a global collective of developers and security experts collaborating to create a unified set of tools that enhance their work by making it easier, more standardized, reliable, and secure. At the heart of this initiative is Parrot OS, a leading GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian, specifically designed to prioritize security and privacy. It offers an extensive portable laboratory suitable for various cybersecurity activities, including penetration testing, digital forensics, and reverse engineering. Additionally, it provides all the necessary resources for software development and data protection. Regular updates ensure that it remains robust, with frequent releases that incorporate numerous hardening and sandboxing features. Users have full control over the system, allowing them to download, share, examine the source code, and modify it as desired. This system is committed to honoring your freedom, and that commitment will always remain steadfast. Users are encouraged to engage with the community, contributing to its evolution while upholding the principles of security and privacy for all.

Fedora Workstation stands out as a dependable, robust, and user-friendly operating system tailored for both desktops and laptops. It serves a diverse group of developers, including hobbyists, students, and professionals operating within corporate settings. The GNOME 3 desktop environment allows you to concentrate on your coding tasks without unnecessary interruptions. Built with the developer's needs in mind, GNOME offers a streamlined experience that emphasizes productivity. You can eliminate the frustration of searching for or compiling the necessary tools, as Fedora provides an extensive array of open-source languages, tools, and utilities that are readily accessible with just a click or command. Additionally, Fedora supports collaborative efforts through platforms and repositories like COPR, enabling you to share your projects and provide builds for the broader community to utilize. This makes it an ideal choice for developers looking to enhance their workflow and contribute to open-source initiatives.

Explore the advantages of ChromeOS for PCs and Macs with its cloud-first, user-friendly, and secure approach. ChromeOS Flex offers a free and eco-friendly solution to upgrade your existing devices effortlessly. You can easily deploy it across multiple machines or simply test it out to discover the benefits of a cloud-centric operating system. By installing ChromeOS Flex on your computers, you ensure they are secure, boot up quickly, maintain peak performance over time, receive automatic background updates, and can be managed remotely through the cloud. Devices start swiftly, remain efficient, and update seamlessly, minimizing downtime for users. Enjoy rapid access to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and web applications in a streamlined and dependable environment. You can roll out ChromeOS Flex to your entire fleet using USB or network installation, and user settings and policies are synchronized to devices almost immediately. The Google Admin console allows for easy remote management of updates and configuration of device policies. Furthermore, the use of blocked executables and sandboxing technology eliminates the necessity for traditional antivirus solutions, making it a smart choice for modern businesses. This innovative operating system not only enhances security but also improves the overall productivity of your workforce.

OmniOS is an open-source server operating system designed to include only essential features. Its native file system, ZFS, integrates a volume manager with robust data integrity protections. You can effortlessly share volumes using protocols like iSCSI, CIFS, and NFS. Additionally, OmniOS allows the execution of lightweight virtual machines running either OmniOS or Linux in containers, eliminating the traditional hypervisor's overhead while ensuring complete resource management. For those needing full hardware virtualization, it supports bhyve and KVM, allowing the operation of various guest systems including Microsoft Windows and FreeBSD. Network infrastructure can be virtualized through Crossbow, which offers virtual interfaces and switches, plus the option to allocate dedicated resources for specific applications. DTrace serves as a powerful dynamic tracing framework to facilitate troubleshooting across the software stack, enabling real-time instrumentation whenever needed. As an open-source project, OmniOS is self-hosting and its development is actively managed on GitHub, where contributors can submit pull requests, and anyone interested can access the source code to compile their own version of OmniOS. This environment fosters community involvement and transparency in the development process.

The latest release of DragonFly, version 6.2.2, introduces several enhancements, including hardware compatibility for type-2 hypervisors utilizing NVMM, an upgraded amdgpu driver, and the experimental feature of remote-mounting HAMMER2 volumes, alongside a variety of other updates. As a member of the BSD family of operating systems, DragonFly shares its roots with Linux and other BSD variants, adhering to the foundational principles and APIs of UNIX while also diverging in terms of development direction from FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. This divergence allows DragonFly to pursue unique innovations, such as its sophisticated HAMMER filesystem, which offers high performance, built-in mirroring, and historical access capabilities. Additionally, one of the standout features is the implementation of virtual kernels, enabling the execution of a complete kernel as a user process, which facilitates resource management, kernel development, and debugging in an accelerated environment. These features collectively position DragonFly as a distinctive option within its operating system category, appealing to users seeking alternatives beyond conventional solutions.

Microservice operating system that delivers atomic updates while utilizing a read-only btrfs root filesystem, MicroOS is specifically crafted to support containerized workloads with features for automated maintenance and patch management. By installing openSUSE MicroOS, users can quickly create a compact environment ideal for running containers or other tasks that require transactional updates. As a rolling release distribution, it ensures that all software remains current and up-to-date. Additionally, MicroOS provides an offline image option for easier installation. The key distinction between the offline image and the self-install/raw images lies in the inclusion of an installer in the offline version, while the raw and self-install images allow for greater customization through combustion or manual adjustments after the image has been deployed. Furthermore, MicroOS includes the possibility of utilizing a real-time kernel for enhanced performance. Users can explore MicroOS in virtual machines on platforms such as Xen or KVM, while those with Raspberry Pi or similar system-on-chip devices can take advantage of the preconfigured image combined with combustion for seamless boot integration. This versatility makes MicroOS an appealing choice for a variety of deployment scenarios.

Arm Mbed OS is an open-source operating system tailored for IoT applications, providing all the essential tools for creating IoT devices. This robust OS is equipped to support smart and connected products built on Arm Cortex-M architecture, offering features such as machine learning, secure connectivity stacks, an RTOS kernel, and drivers for various sensors and I/O devices. Specifically designed for the Internet of Things, Arm Mbed OS integrates capabilities in connectivity, machine learning, networking, and security, complemented by a wealth of software libraries, development boards, tutorials, and practical examples. It fosters collaboration across a vast ecosystem, supporting over 70 partners in silicon, modules, cloud services, and OEMs, thereby enhancing choices for developers. By leveraging the Mbed OS API, developers can maintain clean, portable, and straightforward application code while benefiting from advanced security, communication, and machine learning functionalities. This cohesive solution ultimately streamlines the development process, significantly lowering costs, minimizing time investment, and reducing associated risks. Furthermore, Mbed OS empowers innovation, enabling developers to rapidly prototype and deploy IoT solutions with confidence.

Stratodesk NoTouch, the #1 Thin Client OS and management software in the world, is available now. Stratodesk NoTouch is a combination of NoTouch OS, NoTouch Center and can transform any PC, Thin Client or Laptop into a centrally managed Thin Endpoint. NoTouch OS can be instantly deployed to thousands of devices, and managed from oStratodesk NoTouch. NoTouch OS is the best Thin Client OS and management solution. Stratodesk NoTouch is a combination of NoTouch OS, NoTouch Center and can be used to transform any PC, Thin Client or Laptop into a centrally managed Thin Endpoint. NoTouch OS can be instantly deployed to thousands of devices and managed from one browser. NoTouch OS is a minimal-sized OS that can be installed from your server onto your computer, laptop, thin client, or Raspberry Pi device. NoTouch Center is the best endpoint management software to manage your VDI endpoints.

Quickly locate that crucial document, image, or video with ease. With features like Split View, Editable Location, a built-in Terminal, and many more handy tools, Dolphin simplifies the process of connecting USB flash drives, SD cards, and mobile devices. In today’s digital age, images play a vital role, and Kubuntu offers applications designed for effortless browsing, sharing, and enhancing your photographs. You can open various file types such as PDF, Dejavu, PS, and DVI with Okular, the versatile document viewer, which also allows you to annotate documents, fill out forms, and even read eBooks. Kubuntu includes straightforward music and movie players that make entertainment a breeze; just choose a song or film, and the system will handle the rest. Most audio and video formats are supported right from the start, and if you need to install restricted formats like MP3, it only takes two clicks, typically during the installation process. This seamless integration of multimedia capabilities makes Kubuntu an ideal choice for users who value both ease of use and functionality.

Raspberry Pi Imager offers a fast and straightforward method for installing Raspberry Pi OS along with various other operating systems onto a microSD card, making it ready for your Raspberry Pi. To understand the installation process, check out our brief 45-second video tutorial. Begin by downloading and installing Raspberry Pi Imager on a computer equipped with an SD card reader. Insert the microSD card intended for your Raspberry Pi into the reader and launch Raspberry Pi Imager. You can explore a variety of operating systems available from both Raspberry Pi and external providers, allowing you to download and install them manually as needed. This tool streamlines the setup process and enhances your Raspberry Pi experience.

Driving the most efficient, compact, scalable, and adaptable storage solution in existence, the Pavilion HyperParallel File System™ enables unlimited scalability across numerous Pavilion HyperParallel Flash Arrays™, achieving an impressive 1.2 TB/s for read operations and 900 GB/s for writes, alongside 200 million IOPS at a mere 25 microseconds latency for each rack. This system stands out with its remarkable ability to offer independent and linear scalability for both capacity and performance, as the Pavilion HyperOS 3 now incorporates global namespace support for NFS and S3, thus facilitating boundless, linear scaling across countless Pavilion HyperParallel Flash Array units. By harnessing the capabilities of the Pavilion HyperParallel Flash Array, users can experience unmatched levels of performance and uptime. Furthermore, the Pavilion HyperOS integrates innovative, patent-pending technologies that guarantee constant data availability, providing swift access that far surpasses traditional legacy arrays. This combination of scalability and performance positions Pavilion as a leader in the storage industry, catering to the needs of modern data-driven environments.

Urbit is designed to be accessible for all users, yet navigating its expansive ecosystem can sometimes feel overwhelming. By utilizing the provided links, you can engage with the network through various avenues such as development, operation, and exploration. It addresses the complex challenges associated with creating a peer-to-peer network, including identity verification, NAT traversal, and ensuring messages are delivered exactly once, all handled within the kernel, allowing app developers to concentrate on their core business logic. The operating system itself functions as a single pure function, offering developers robust assurances such as automated persistence, efficient memory management, reproducible builds, and the ability for hot code reloading. The vision of a connected world presented by Urbit resembles the early days of the Internet, fostering an environment of collaborative discussion and mutual support. Issues that seem insurmountable today due to the need for centralized control—such as data breaches, spam, fraudulent reviews, malware distribution, and harassment—become manageable when individuals regain control over their computing environments. In this system, you can use just one login to access everything, simplifying the user experience significantly. This streamlined approach not only enhances security but also encourages more personalized interactions online.

Windows XP represents a version of the Microsoft Windows operating system tailored for personal computers, having been released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and subsequently to retail on October 25, 2001, with the "XP" denoting "eXPerience." This version served as an upgrade from its predecessors, Windows 2000 aimed at high-end and business users and Windows Me designed for home users, effectively merging the NT and 9x series of Windows. As a graphical user interface (GUI), Windows XP enables users to run various software applications, such as word processors for letter writing and spreadsheets for managing finances. Renowned for its vibrant color schemes, user-friendly interface, and overall stability, Windows XP became one of Microsoft's most enduring flagship operating systems, enjoying a lifespan of over five years. Ultimately, it was replaced by Windows Vista, which was officially launched on January 30, 2007, marking the end of an era for many loyal users.

Windows Vista represents a significant advancement in the Windows NT operating system line, succeeding Windows XP and developed by Microsoft. It was first made available to manufacturers on November 8, 2006, and hit retail shelves on January 30, 2007, marking its official launch to the public. This version presented an evolution from Windows XP, showcasing a suite of new features alongside a revamped graphical user interface, as well as enhanced security protocols. Among the pivotal innovations in Vista was the introduction of the Aero interface, characterized by its sleek, transparent visual effects for windows and dialog boxes, complemented by dynamic animations. Additionally, the operating system implemented a new security framework incorporating User Account Control (UAC), designed to mitigate risks from malware and various security vulnerabilities. Upon its release, Vista garnered a range of reactions, with some reviewers lauding the advancements in features and security, while others voiced concerns regarding its performance and compatibility with existing hardware and software. Despite the initial mixed feedback, Vista paved the way for subsequent versions of Windows, influencing future developments in user interface design and security measures.