5 of the perfect working techniques to make use of your Raspberry Pi as a PC

Switching distros simply by swapping microSD playing cards is an incredible function when you love constructing a number of initiatives together with your Raspberry Pi. Plus, the RPi lineup is appropriate with a battalion of working techniques, every bringing its personal distinctive amenities to the desk.

With the newer Raspberry Pi boards packing extra firepower than ever, you may even use them to construct a fully-functional PC. So, right here’s a fast listing of the perfect working techniques you may pair together with your Raspberry Pi-flavored desktop.

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5

Ubuntu

Good for newcomers to the Linux house

Typically hailed as essentially the most beginner-friendly distribution, Ubuntu is a stable working system to dip your toes within the Linux ecosystem. It’s steady sufficient to your SBC initiatives, has stable studying assets, and pairs exceedingly properly with most Raspberry Pi fashions. Likewise, the app help is unbelievable for AArch64 techniques just like the RPi-series.

Whether or not you’re a part of the Mac/Home windows group or have just lately switched to Ubuntu and need a acquainted UI to your Raspberry Pi machine, Ubuntu received’t allow you to down. And when you’ve grown accustomed to the quirks of Linux, you may swap to the remainder of the distros on this listing.

4

Kali Linux

For the coding champs on the market

In the event you’re a pen tester in search of an affordable system to construct your cybersecurity workstation, you is likely to be eager about pairing your Raspberry Pi with Kali Linux. The default set up of Kali Linux is armed to the tooth with quite a few vulnerability scanners and forensic evaluation instruments, and also you’re free so as to add much more utilities to your penetration testing and (moral) hacking machine.

On the flip facet, you may as well equip your Kali Linux machine with community scanning and firewall utilities to safeguard your private home LAN from intruders. Simply keep in mind to maintain your important paperwork away out of your Raspberry Pi-powered Kali Linux PC when you plan to make use of it to your hacking escapades.

3

DietPi

The best choice for a Raspberry Pi Zero desktop

Though you may set up loads of working techniques on the low-power Raspberry Pi Zero sequence, you’ll need to put up with fixed freezes, stuttering, and different efficiency points. That’s the place DietPi is useful with its minimal useful resource utilization.

Whereas the default model of DietPi makes use of a command-line interface, you’re free to outfit the distro together with your favourite packages, together with a full-on GUI. Heck, it’s additionally helpful for homeowners of the mainline Raspberry Pi sequence who need a extremely environment friendly OS for his or her tiny PC.

2

Raspberry Pi OS

A stable companion to your tinkering misadventures

Because the official distro for the uber-popular SBC lineup, Raspberry Pi OS has a number of benefits over the opposite choices on this listing. For starters, it’s outfitted with a lot of the important instruments you’ll must kickstart your journey into the huge and attention-grabbing world of Raspberry Pi initiatives. It’s additionally responsive sufficient to double as a good PC – offered you don’t run too many initiatives in tandem together with your on a regular basis duties.

In the event you’re utilizing the upper reminiscence variants of the Raspberry Pi 5, this first-party OS will serve most of your computing wants, and I’d’ve granted it the highest spot on this listing if not for FydeOS.

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1

FydeOS

Highly effective, easy-to-use, and laden with options

After I tried to make use of my Raspberry Pi as a laptop computer, FydeOS exceeded my expectations. In the event you haven’t heard of it, FydeOS is a distro that mixes the intuitive ChromeOS UI with top-tier efficiency and tons of additional amenities. For starters, FydeOS handles 1080p video streaming with minimal dropped frames, a feat that Ubuntu, Kali Linux, Debian, and even the Raspberry Pi OS failed to perform. Likewise, the OS runs properly with as many as twenty Chromium tabs.

In the event you choose working with a command-line interface, you may allow the Linux subsystem and execute terminal instructions to your coronary heart’s content material. Then there’s the Android subsystem, which is optimized so properly that it may well run a number of Android video games (and even emulators) at stable body charges.

What’s your favourite working system for the Raspberry Pi sequence?

In the event you’re nonetheless in search of extra working techniques to make use of your Raspberry Pi as a standard desktop, I’ve bought a few different suggestions. For hardcore tinkerers who don’t thoughts spending hours working with terminal scripts, you may embark on the tiresome journey to put in Arch Linux or (god forbid) NixOS in your Raspberry Pi. There’s additionally TwisterOS that provides tons of customization choices for the UI, however the truth that it would not have a 64-bit model makes me hesitant to incorporate it right here. In the event you’re up for the problem, you may even configure Home windows 11 on the SBC, although you’ll need to take care of a bunch of efficiency and compatibility points do you have to attempt utilizing it as a standard PC.